Opposites Attract
by hippielicious
Summary: Daryl knew that they were very different people. He knew that women like Kit were NEVER interested in men like him, which Merle constantly reminds him. But the world has undeniably changed and Daryl can't help but wonder if maybe love has changed with it. He certainly hoped so. Daryl/OC
1. Chapter 1

The Dixon brothers were just waking up on a particularly muggy morning in the Georgian woods when they heard an odd combination of sounds. One of which was clearly the moaning of one of those damn things that they had been running into the past couple days in the woods and had heard about on the news. The second sound was that of a woman shouting "shut up, fucker, it's too damn early!" and the final sound resembled the noise that a hissing cat made. Naturally, this received their full attention. They had been about to start walking back to their truck and maybe see about that whole Atlanta thing that all the news reports wouldn't shut up about, but this caught their attention.

As they followed the source of the noises, what they found was most certainly not what they had been expecting: a woman sitting on a branch near the top of tall tree with a cat standing beside her and one of those bastards at the base of the tree moaning at them, trying to get to them. Merle happily dispatched the damn thing before both he and Daryl returned their attention to the woman in the tree.

Merle, being the more talkative of the two by far, decided to ask her the question that was bouncing around in both his head and Daryl's: "Now girlie, wha' tha' hell is ya doing up in tha' tree for?"

"It seemed as good a place as any to spend the night," she replied curtly, not taking her eyes off the brothers. Her look on her face said that she did _not_ trust them.

"Ya know tha' ya can come on down, don' ya, buttercup? We ain't abou' ta' hurt ya."

She narrowed her eyes, but began to slowly making her way down, using one hand to hold her cat and the other to grip branches. Once she had both feet on the ground, Merle whistled. "Well ain't you petite?" Daryl had to agree with his brother. Both he and Merle _towered_ over her. She wasn't scrawny, though. As he looked at her legs, though they were covered by pants, they looked as though they were somewhat strong.

"Thank you for taking care of that," she said, indicating towards the rotting body on the ground. "Now, I'll get out of your hair."

"Now hold up!" Merle said quickly. "Are you sure that you can take care of those bastards on your own? After all, ya was up in a damn tree."

She placed her cat on the ground indignantly, replying with "I've taken care of myself so far, I think I can continue to do so."

"Well, at least let us escort ya to wherever y'all are goin'. You don' have to worry your pretty little head about it. Darlina and I ain't abou' ta hurt ya. My name's Merle Dixon an tha' pussy there is ma brother Daryl."

She regarded them carefully, trying to decide whether or not to trust them. "My name is Kit Eldridge," she replied guardedly.

"An' where are ya headed, Blondie," he replied, ignoring her introduction.

"To the highway."

"Well that's a long walk from here, Sweet Cheeks. Wham's on the highway? You hitchhiking or somethin'?"

"That happens to be where my car is."

Merle raised his eyebrow while his brother only stared at her. "Then what'ya doin' all tha way out here for? And why tha hell is ya spendin' the night in a damn tree?"

She sighed, clearly not wanting to relay the story to them, but decided to explain. "I left my car to take a piss in the woods. It wouldn't take long and there was no place with actual toilets nearby. After I was done taking my piss, I heard a group of those things coming towards me. I managed to take out a few, but there were about twenty of them, and I decided it would be better to run for it. Eventually, I was too tired to keep running, so I climbed into this tree and spent the night. Most of them gave up eventually, with the exception of the one you so graciously took care of."

"Quite a run," Merle drawled. "Offer still stands; if ya want Daryl and I to take ya to the highway so ya don' get lost, we'll be more than happy to. An before ya go thinkin' tha' we is gonna pull somethin', just keep in mind that if we was plannin' on hurtin' ya, it would already be done."

"Fine," she said tersely. "Thank you."

"Thas mighty kind of ya, girlie. I've been wantin' some company 'sides Darlina, here, for a while." Kit stole a glance towards Daryl, who didn't say a word about what Merle was saying about him.

"Just let me feed my cat," she said awkwardly. She opened up her yellow daypack and pulled some canned cat food out of it, placed the opened can in front of it on the ground. It glanced warily at Merle and Daryl before eating.

The woman herself took a long drink from her water bottle before placing a few snap peas in her mouth. She offered the bag to Merle and Daryl, clearly only doing so out of politeness. "No thanks, Petite," Merle said. "I don't particularly care for greens." She looked to Daryl, giving him the same offer. He shook his head, not feeling hungry. "If ya don' mind me askin', Petite, why tha' hell did ya bring tha' damn thing." He indicated towards the cat.

"Because I wanted to. Besides, he can smell those things from a mile away." She made it clear she didn't want to discuss the matter any further.

"You even brought him to take a piss?"

"I wasn't about to leave him in a hot car."

Once the cat had finished, the girl scooped him up gently in her arms and they all began walking. "How long before we reach the highway?" she asked.

"Won't be 'till tomorrow. Like I said, Blondie, you had quite a long run and I don't intend to be doin' any running today."

The blonde nodded and remained silent for a long while before Merle huffed with irritation. "You ain't much better company than ma brother." She didn't feel the need to reply, so Merle continued. "Well, the least you can do is tell us why you're here in Georgia."

"I live here," she replied simply.

"Maybe," he said with a shrug. "But you certainly ain't _from_ here." She looked at him questioningly. "Honey, you ain't got no Georgian accent. 'Sides, I ain't never seen a true Georgian who can't take the humidity and it is kicking your ass."

Kit had to admit he was observant. She despised the humidity; it made it hard for her to breathe and it made her very, very sweaty. Her clothes were soaked and because of the heat coming off of her body, her glasses, which were already filthy, were beginning to fog up. "I'm from Montana but I'm in Georgia for college."

"Well, well, well, Daryl!" Merle explained. "Looks like we got ourselves a smarty-pants." The girl, who was flushed already, seemed to turn even pinker than she already was. "If I'm right, though, ain't it abou' vacation time?" he asked.

"I was supposed to meet a friend at the University of Georgia. She wasn't there, so I can only assume that she is no longer among the living." Kit's voice was a little dead as she said this.

"An' your family?" Merle asked. He knew he was pushing it, because he certainly didn't give a damn. He just liked having her pretty face to look at and a nice ass to glance at when she wasn't looking.

"Dead," she replied simply. "They were the first of those things that I dispatched."

Daryl had to admit to himself that he was mildly impressed. She was certainly no pansy to have gone through that without cracking. She was still calm and collected, despite Merle pushing her buttons left and right, which Daryl found even more impressive.

Merle continued pestering her, trying to keep their long walk interesting. "Why Georgia, if ya hate it here so much?"

Before Kit even though about what she was saying she said, "The University of Georgia offered me the most money."

Merle grinned with delight. "Well ain't she special, Daryl? Got a scholarship and everything!" Kit looked down to the ground, unhappy that she had let her scholarship slip. "Let's see if I can guess what it's for, now." Kit didn't reply to any of his guesses, but she tensed up when he reached 'academic scholarship'. "Well, Daryl, looks like we really do have a smarty-pants on our hands. They must have given her a lot of money if she could afford to go out of state." Kit was now very certain that despite all appearances, the Dixon brothers were _not_ stupid. In fact, they were very perceptive. "I bet Petite here got a full ride, or close to it at least. No way she'd come a state like Georgia if that wadn't the case." Again, perceptive.

Kit tried to keep her mouth shut as best she could and tune out Merle and was happy when they decided to settle in for the night. "Tomorrow won't be so long," Merle said with a smile. "Now, when we get to this car of yours, would you mind givin' us a ride, buttercup? Wouldn't be more'n an hour's drive or so. We was gonna do some huntin' out here but then we happened upon you and you was more interestin'."

"Sure." Kit didn't like the idea of having the two men in her car with her, but as Merle said: if they wanted to do something to her, they probably would have already. She then began self-consciously rummaging through her bag and pulled out some pills.

Merle's eyes immediately lit up. "Got anythin' in there for me, girlie?" he asked.

"Not unless you think you may become pregnant." This got a raucous laugh from Merle and, surprisingly, a small chuckle from his brother.

His eyes still scanned this pills and he snatched up one of the prescriptions. "Now this one ain't no birth control." He turned his eyes to Kit and saw how uncomfortable he was making her. "Nothin' that I like, though. Don' recognize whatever this drug is." He tossed the pill bottle back to her and she quickly shoved it back into her bag. "Funny," Merle laughed. "Ya didn't seem too scared by tha' thing back there, but you is sure skittish 'round us."

"The world is changing. I don't think that a little caution would be out of place."

They didn't light a fire that night because they didn't want to attract those things. The Dixons surprised Kit, though, when they opted to sleep in the trees as she had the night before. Not that she had gotten much sleep.

"Just makes sense," Merle said. "None of them things walkin' 'round is gonna be able to get to us up here without their arms falling off, them bein' rotten and all."

Kit didn't sleep much, waking frequently throughout the night, until morning light began to slowly eek its way through the trees. She climbed down and fed her cat while she waited on Daryl and Merle, though she didn't have to wait long, as the brothers were both early risers. As they set off, Merle was every bit as talkative as he had been the previous day and Daryl was every bit as silent, which Kit definitely preferred.

"Well, since you been ignorin' everythin' else I been talkin' 'bout, can I ask you a question, Petite?" Kit nodded, hoping it wasn't as personal as some of his other musings had been. "Where ya headed after you drop me an' Daryl off at our truck?"

She shrugged. "Since I have no one here, I was thinking I would go back to Montana. Hide in the woods there until this whole shit-storm blows over… If it blows over."

"You ain't headed to that CDC place? Thas where Daryl an' I were thinkin'."

"If the CDC actually had a cure, as they claim they might have, then things would not be getting this bad this quickly. Also, during a pandemic like this, it's best to avoid large cities, such as Atlanta, so you can lower your risk of being infected. And, in this particular case, being eaten alive. Besides, the traffic heading towards Atlanta is going to be enough to drive a person insane."

For one of the first times since she had met him, Merle got a serious, contemplative look on his face. He nodded and shrugged. "Well, we ain't got nowhere better to go. You sure you don' wanna go with us, girlie? The world's becomin' a much more dangerous place and last I checked, bein' a woman alone in a dangerous place ain't such a great idea, either."

Kit lowered her eyes. She hated to admit it, but Merle had a point. None of her friends in Montana had made any form of contact with her. They were either dead or not interested in whether or not she was dead. "Well," Merle informed her. "We got 'nother hour or so 'fore we reach yer car. You can decide when you drop me an' Daryl off."

Surprisingly, Merle was silent for the rest of the walk, which Kit was grateful for, though she did catch him staring at her ass a couple times. Merle was an irritating, sexist asshole, but neither he nor his brother had hurt her, so she began to seriously consider his offer – despite the obvious drawback of Merle's personality.

When they got close to the highway, they could see the area where she had pulled off the road and Merle let out an enormous "Ha!"

"What?"

"You some kind of soccer mom or somethin'?" he asked, pointing at her minivan.

"It gets decent highway mileage," she mumbled.

The brothers could see as they entered the minivan that Kit was fairly prepared and had a lot of supplies stored in the cars, thanks to the stowaway seats. "Sorry, one of you is going to have to find somewhere to sit on the floor in the back." As Kit turned the key and the engine revved to life, she made her decision, as difficult as it was. "I'm going with you," she said quietly, which earned a smirk from Merle.

* * *

"Petite, you betta' get that damn cat away from our meat or I swear I will skin it alive!" Merle hollered.

"Sorry," she said quickly, as she sprinted over to the Dixon camp and quickly made off with her pet before he had time to eat the meat they had caught.

Camp had been set at the quarry for about a week now and most of the inhabitants were finally beginning to settle in and get acquainted with each other. The Dixon brothers opted not to get too well acquainted with anyone.

This particular afternoon was something of a lazy one, for once. This kids were playing card games with each other and their parents while most the camp chose to relax. Daryl sat in a chair, looking at Kit. When they had first arrived, she had quickly distanced herself from the Dixon Brothers, which he had assumed was due to a distaste for them and all their…southern traits. However, he soon learned that his assumption was wrong. Kit didn't want to distance herself from the Dixon Brothers; she wanted to distance herself from everyone at the camp. She currently sat alone, not too far from Daryl, reading a book. He could hear a gossip session going on just far enough away from Kit that she wouldn't be able to hear their hushed whispers.

"Who's that blonde girl over there, the one with the glasses?" a woman asked.

Another woman replied. "Only one or two people actually know her name. She's quiet – keeps mostly to herself. I haven't seen her talk to anyone, actually."

"Why?" This time it was a young Asian kid. When the other woman only shrugged in response, he chose to ask another question. "Has anyone tried to talk to her?" The other six or so people gathered around all looked at each other and shook their heads. Seeing this, the Asian kid stood up from his chair in what Daryl could only assume was supposed to be a bold motion.

From there the kid sauntered over to Kit and began a conversation, which Daryl watched very closely, as he watched everything going on in the camp. "Hi, my name's Glenn Rhee." He peered at the book she was reading and said, very excitedly, "I love H.G. Wells."

This caught Kit's attention. She lowered the book and gave him a disbelieving look. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. I love all that sci-fi stuff: Star Wars, Star Trek, and basically anything written by Michael Chrichton. If it's sci-fi, then I'll probably love it, if I don't already."

This, much to everyone's surprise, drew a small smile out of the blonde. "You have good taste," she complimented him. "My name is Kit Eldridge." They shook hands and she very quietly asked, "Have you read Sphere?" Glenn shook his head. "Well," she said jokingly. "You can't truly be a Michael Chrichton fan, then." She began to wring her hands nervously. "I, uh, have a copy in my car if you want to read it." She looked at Glenn apprehensively, as if she wasn't sure if it was appropriate to lend strangers books.

This in turn created an even happier, almost triumphant, look on Glenn's face. "Yeah! Definitely!"

She gave him another tentative smile. "I'll give it to you at dinner, then."

"Okay, I'll see you at dinner," he replied cheerfully. "It was nice meeting you."

With that, the kid strolled of, and gave the gossip group a look that very closely resembled a smirk as he walked past them. Daryl supposed that it made sense the girl would feel more comfortable with a kid her own age. He also supposed that any woman would be nervous around Merle, which was why she hadn't liked talking to him. He decided to try and experiment, since he had nothing better to do.

He approached her and said, "Hey, Dex."

She raised a curious eyebrow, confused. "Dex?"

"As in, Poindexter?" Kit stared at him, trying to decide whether he was trying to compliment her or mock her. While he had her attention, Daryl decided to continue. "Never been much of a Wells fan myself." That comment drew an even greater look of surprise from her face, which caused Daryl to chuckle internally. "I read War of the Worlds and I gotta say that I think the movie was better."

"I've never thought it was one of his better works," she replied. "I liked The Time Machine much more." She glanced at the book she held in her hand. "If you wanted to read it…"

Daryl could tell he made her nervous, but it appeared that people in general made her nervous, so he chose not to take any offense from it. "Sure. Not much else to do in this shit hole." She handed him the book and he took it gently. "Bet ya didn't peg me as the readin' type, did ya?"

She shook her head, but then glanced at Merle, who was staring at them. "I'm definitely sure that he isn't, though."

"Now there yer right. I can't remember the last time Merle picked up a book, if he ever did." He glanced down at the book, seeing that it wasn't particularly long. "I think I'll start on this, then. See ya, Dex."

"I like it," she blurted out quickly, before Daryl left.

"Like what?" he asked.

"The nickname."

Daryl smiled and gave her a quick nod. "Glad ya do." That earned him one of her very elusive small smiles and he didn't know why, but even that tiny little smile made him feel…good. Not to mention that it brightened her face a little.

Daryl meandered over to the camp that he and Merle were sharing, reading the synopsis on the back of the book Kit had given to him.

"Ya realize ya don' have a chance in hell with her, right?" Merle asked. "Women like her don' associate with men like us. Hell, women like her don' even _fuck_ with men like us. Yer wastin' yer time."

"I just wanted the book," Daryl replied, with only the slightest edge to his voice.

"Sure, little brother. Jus' remember what Merle told ya when she tells ya to go to hell."


	2. Chapter 2

Things at the camp remained mostly uneventful. The 'walkers' as they were called, had apparently not ventured as far as the quarry, so it was reasonably safe. Kit was going to take her dinner away from the fire, like she normally did, but Glenn grabbed her arm and plopped her in between himself and an older man named Dale. "No way are you going to sit by yourself. Oh, and I'm only a couple chapters into Sphere and it is already just as good as anything else Michael Chrichton has written."

Kit wasn't very good at small talk, but she tried anyway. "How was your, uh, 'trip' to Atlanta today?"

He shrugged. "Uneventful, mostly. I went by myself, so I didn't have to worry about anyone else's ass and that was nice." He puffed his chest a little. "I _am_ responsible for the chips tonight. I found a bunch of those variety boxes."

"I'll have to grab some Fritos." She then began playing with her hair, feeling a tad awkward. She wasn't very good at meeting new people and so she continually tucked her short, blonde hair behind her ears, though it was barely long enough for that.

The older man, Dale, decided to chime in. "Glenn tells me you have quite the book collection in your minivan. I'm glad that at least someone thought to bring literature for the end of the world," he joked.

"No pandemic apocalypse would be complete without some Bronte or Tolkien," she said with a still uncomfortable smile.

"Indeed. You know, my dear, there really is no reason to be nervous. Glenn and I don't bite. Hmmm, poor choice of words given our present situation," he mused.

"I'm not very good at meeting new people. Mostly because I never talk to anyone."

Glenn and Dale saw that she was joking and both cracked smiles. "I'm sure you'll grow comfortable eventually," Dale told her. The confidence he spoke with even made her feel a little less awkward. "Until then, Glenn and I will be here to help you out."

"Thank you." She really meant it.

"You can thank me by letting me peruse your collection. In truth, I'm very eager to see what you have." The old man's eyes twinkled with such genuine excitement, that Kit couldn't help but offer a genuine smile back. "See," Dale exclaimed. "You're on the right track already."

Daryl sat away from the group, as per usual. The girl didn't eat much. Under normal circumstances, Daryl wouldn't have thought much of it; after all, most women were fixated on keeping their weight down. There were a couple things that weren't quite right, though. Food was carefully rationed, which meant that no one was going to be gaining any weight anytime soon, so she shouldn't be worried about keeping the pounds off. Besides, it wasn't as if she was overweight. He remembered the pills that she took in the woods – the ones that Merle couldn't identify. He figured they might be connected, but he couldn't be sure.

That night, Daryl was sleeping pretty well and having a nice dream involving a little "Southern Comfort" when he heard some leaves rustling outside his tent. He sat up slowly, seeing that Merle was still asleep, but he continued to hear the very quiet rustling of leaves. Grabbing his crossbow, he followed the noise into the woods, thinking it might be a walker. He had a dim flashlight with him, so he could see the bastard if it was there. He heard something in the tree above him and immediately pointed his crossbow towards the noise, almost pulling the trigger. "Damn it, Kit! What the hell is it with you an' trees?"

He pointed the dim flashlight at the woman sitting above him. Like always, her response was brief. "Insomnia."

After nearly shooting one of the only people in the camp he didn't hate, Daryl didn't feel as if he would be sleeping any time soon, either. "Well I guess that makes two of us," he sighed. "Care for company?"

She looked very unsure before slowly nodding. They sat in pleasant silence in the tree together for quite a while and, oddly enough, when she didn't have to say anything, Kit didn't seem to mind being around him. The quiet suited Daryl well enough and he decided that he could definitely tolerate this woman. He hated to admit it, but Merle was right: she was pretty. That, paired with the fact that she wasn't annoying as hell, made for a very pleasant combination. "Read tha' book. Better than the other one, I'll give ya tha', but I'm still not a fan."

She shrugged. "You can't convert everyone, I guess." She remained silent for another moment before, for the first time since Daryl had first encountered her, she actually began a conversation without having to be prompted. "One nice thing did come out of the shitty situation, you know."

"An' what exactly is that?" Now she had piqued his interest.

She gestured towards the sky. "We can finally see the stars." For Daryl, the stars were nice to look at and all, but not anything to fuss about. He turned to Kit and saw that she received an entirely difference experience from the night sky. She was captivated, and it was her enchantment that caused the sides of his mouth to turn up a little. The wonder that she had was enchanting all on its own.

"I s'pose," he agreed. They sat there in silence again, listening to the cicadas, and Daryl had to wonder to himself why in the hell he found this woman so interesting. The way things used to be, they probably would have despised each other! From what he'd gathered, she was some sort of educated hippie. She didn't like hunting, she ran around camp making sure that they would 'leave no trace', and she read pretentious books. On top of all that, he was sure that she had been a democrat. She probably looked at him and saw an ignorant southern hick, undoubtedly a complete turn off to her. Why did he even bother?

He began to get down from the tree. "Look, Kit, don't go sneaking off to the woods, again. Next time I might actually shoot ya and then there would be all sorts of trouble. It'd be awful inconvenient to me to have to explain that away."

"I've been coming out here almost every night," she informed him.

_Damn_, he thought_, this girl is quiet!_ "I'll keep that in mind next time I hear somethin', then." He nodded at her. " 'Night, Dex."

"Goodnight, Daryl," she replied softly.

* * *

It was early morning, before people actually had to start working and Kit was eating breakfast with Glenn and Dale. She supposed this would become a regular thing, but she found that she actually kind of liked them. She was nibbling a very small muffin, pondering how many preservatives must be in it to keep it from going bad for this long. "I used to have tea in the mornings," she informed them. "A nice earl grey to start the day."

"I always enjoyed always enjoyed a hot cup of coffee," Dale recalled.

"I miss actually being able to put milk on my cereal," Glenn said, a sad look forming on his face.

"Come on, guys. Let's get movin'!" Shane, who had somehow become leader, was cutting breakfast short this morning, much to the dismay of the majority of the group. Dale went to his lookout position on top of the Winnebago while Glenn scurried to his task for the day which left Kit a few moments to herself.

She took a little more time, cracking a few of her joints when she felt something hit her face out of nowhere. She looked at the ground and discovered it was a small bag of Fritos. Picking up the bag, she looked in the surrounding area to see Daryl looking at her. He passed her on his way to the woods. "You don' eat enough," he said flatly, giving her no chance to respond.

Her task for the day was relocating and organizing the supplies that Glenn had brought back from Atlanta the previous afternoon and it was a much more daunting task than she had originally imagined. Going through all the boxes took a great deal of time, but as she did so, she crunched on the Fritos that Daryl had given her.

Daryl returned from the woods around noon with various mushrooms. He would have to teach people which ones were edible and that was a thought that didn't exactly improve his mood. He would probably have to double-check what people brought back anyway. These thoughts were stewing in his head when he noticed Kit was having trouble lifting a box, which puzzled him. After all, this was the woman who could scale a tree with no problems. He strolled over and dropped the bag of mushrooms on the ground before taking the box from her because her legs were shaking and she looked like she might drop it. What concerned him even more was the fact that her legs continued shaking after he took the box.

She grabbed them, trying in vain to prevent the shaking, but it died down after a minute or so. "What the fuck was that?" he asked.

"Nothing." She quickly grabbed the box from him – quite the task as her forehead barely reached his chest – and she carried it to its destination with no problems this time.

"That wasn't nothin'." He followed her as she carried the other boxes over to the original one. "Ya looked like ya was abou' ta fall over."

"I didn't and I'm fine now."

The pieces of the puzzle were finally beginning to fit together in Daryl's head. She didn't eat much, she didn't sleep much, she had weird muscle spasms, and then there was the medication. He put it all together and came up with only one answer: she was sick. He didn't know what she was sick with, though it obviously wasn't the walker fever, but it was enough that it was affecting her. He didn't know what to say, or what help to offer and she saw the momentary look of helplessness on his face. "Soon, my legs won't be doing that anymore, so it doesn't matter anyway. Besides, I have things under control, so stop looking at me as if I could drop dead at any moment. I really am fine." He could see in her eyes that she was telling the truth and she genuinely wasn't concerned.

As she ate lunch with Dale and Glenn, Daryl approached her and handed her a granola bar. Their eyes met and they came to an unspoken agreement. If she took care of herself and ate more, Daryl wouldn't pester her. He left without a word, leaving Glenn and Dale absolutely baffled. "What was that?" Glenn asked.

Kit shrugged and claimed ignorance. "Who the hell knows? Daryl is weird."

* * *

That night, as she returned from a _glorious_ bath in the quarry, finally feeling clean, she heard herself called by the last person in the world that she wanted to talk to. "Hey Sweet Cheeks, get that cute ass of yours over here." Kit reluctantly walked over to the area where Merle and Daryl spent their evenings, hoping that this would be brief. As she approached, Merle noticed her wet hair. "Damn! Too bad I missed that show, Sweetheart. Let me know next time you plan on skinny dipping in the quarry and I'll be sure to make a captive audience," he promised. The disgusted look that Kit gave him said it all.

"Tha' ain't why I called ya over here for. Take a chair. We haven't talked in a long time."

She sat down in a shitty folding chair across from the brothers, wary of the constellation of holes that adorned it. She began wringing her hands under Merle's gaze. "So how things been, Petite?" Merle used the name 'Petite' for her more often than any of the other nicknames and typically when he called her that it meant that he wasn't going to say anything too horrible.

"Fine."

"Only fine? I would have hoped that you would be having a dandy time here, just like that cop." Merle indicated to his right and Kit followed his stare to the edge of the woods where she saw Shane and Lori slipping away. "Now wha' do ya s'pose they up to?" he asked with false curiosity.

"Well they're not playing tiddlywinks," Kit replied.

This comment received laughs from both brothers. "Ya see Petite that is exactly why I miss ya."

"I hope her kid doesn't know," she said sadly.

"An' why is that?"

"Her husband, the kid's father, only died around the time when everyone was heading to Atlanta."

"I do love me a whore," Merle whistled. "I wonder if I'll get to ride."

"I'm going to bed." She hurried away, hoping that her next conversation with Merle would not be in the near future. Besides, she hated gossiping about people; it made her even more uncomfortable when talking with others. Besides, Lori seemed nice enough.

* * *

That night, Daryl had dreams about drowning in warm pools of mercury which just so happened to be the same color as Kit's eyes. He shot up from his dream, thankfully not waking up Merle, before deciding to take a walk.

Damn it all! Why couldn't he just forget that bitch? That pansy-ass college snob was a distraction, not to mention that Merle had noticed a couple of the glances Daryl had given her. He had never heard the end of it. She just wasn't worth it, plain and simple. Besides, she would never be interested in Daryl and they would never work together; they were too different.

He nearly had a heart attack when he heard someone ask "Can't sleep?"

There was no mistaking that voice. "Insomnia," he growled at her. Daryl looked up and, sure enough, there was Kit sitting a handful of branches above him.

"Care for company?"

He wanted to leave. He wanted to leave and never see her face again. But, silently cursing himself, he began climbing the branches again.

He wasn't going to say anything, but the events of the day were eating away inside of him and he wanted answers. "What did ya mean when ya said that your legs wouldn't shake no more?"

"Today was my last does of meds. I'm out."

"That chink is going back to Atlanta soon. Couldn't he get more?"

He heard a small huff escape her lungs. "It's not worth the time or the effort." She shot him an irked look. "And his name is Glenn."

He was _done_ trying to help this girl so he wasn't about to argue with her, but he did have just one more question. "So what'll happen?"

Her face pulled a nonchalant look. "I'll have some mild withdrawal symptoms for a few days."

"An' then what?"

"I don't know. I might be perfectly fine, and I might not. I've been on this stuff for more than a year now. Regardless, I _will_ be okay. It's not going to impair my ability to work because I found ways a long time ago to deal with this. It's in the past."

Daryl accepted what she said for the time being, and they both enjoyed the view of the night sky in companionable silence, their thoughts very far away from the world they currently lived in.


	3. Chapter 3

Kit's leg was bouncing in agitation as she took an early watch with Dale. Daryl had gone hunting and Glenn had taken a group with him to Atlanta which meant that two thirds of the people she actually talked to were gone, which left only Dale. "Do you want to talk about it?" Dale asked. Kit tried to give him the most innocent, questioning look that she could possibly muster. "Something is clearly bothering you," Dale continued. "And, you know, it's funny because when Daryl left, something seemed to be bothering him, too. Now, you could tell me what's going on, or I could draw my own assumptions, which will probably be much worse," he teased. He gave her a serious look. "Whatever you say to me, Glenn and I won't stop pestering you, I promise."

"Daryl knew that I was taking a medication and it ran out a few days ago. He wanted the group that went to Atlanta to get more for me."

Dale turned to her, concern etched on his face. "What was it for?"

"It was an anti-depressant but I'm fine, Dale."

"You know you don't have to lie, there are things that we can do."

"Actually," she said with a smile, "I really do feel okay. I needed them because some chemicals were screwed up, but maybe it's corrected itself. I can count all the happy things that have happened to me since this mess started on one hand and this is one of them – having the hope that I may not need the pills. It's kind of funny, actually. I was depressed when there was nothing to make me depressed and then the whole world ends up in the shitter and I'm fine." She turned to him. "It's in the past, and that is where I intend to leave it."

Dale wanted to protest but he could see the pure honesty in her face when she said she didn't need the pills. "If things change, though…"

"I know that I can rely on you, Dale, if I need it. If you could keep this to yourself, I would appreciate it. I just want to leave all of that behind me and I don't need people to worry, or pity me, or anything else."

Both of them jumped when they heard Shane shout "Kit, I have a different job for you!" from only a few feet away.

"What do you need?"

"A lot of clothes need some patching up, if you could." She nodded and climbed down from the Winnebago.

Shane hadn't been kidding when he said some of the clothes needed work. All of them were riddled with tears, holes and every other problem imaginable. At least she had her cat to keep her company as she sat alone, well away from the majority of the group, which she preferred. That is, until she noticed one of the kids staring at her – Carl. "You don't have to just stand there," she informed him.

He cautiously approached the bench she was looking at and gawked at her with pure curiosity. "People are afraid of you, you know."

"Are they?" She wasn't surprised. "Could you please stop looking at me as if I had three heads?"

"Sorry, but yeah people are real afraid of you because you don't talk."

She laughed a little at how direct the kid was before she caught Carl staring at her cat. "You can pet him. Go on," she nodded towards the feline.

"What's his name?" Carl asked as he carefully ran his hand along the cat's furry back.

"Bernie. I think he likes you. Careful, he might try to snuggle up with you in your tent and he is the biggest bed hog I have ever met; you won't get a wink of sleep!"

A big smile split on the kids face, and he giggled at what she had said. Kit admired the fact that he could still smile after all he had been through. This situation could not be easy on a kid and Carl wasn't very old. "Why don't you talk to people?" he asked.

"I guess I'm just not very good at it," she admitted.

"I could teach you!" he volunteered.

"Is that so?" she said, her own face splitting into a smile. "I may just have to take you up on that, Professor Grimes."

"You're really pretty when you smile," Carl said matter-of-factly. "You're also not that bad at talking to people. I think if you talked to people, you could have lots of friends, here." The entire time he was saying this she watched as his face light up in excitement.

"Thank you. I guess you are one of my first new friends, Carl." She held out her hand and they shook on it.

"I don't think you're scary anymore, Kit." He turned to see his mom quickly waving him towards her. "I have to go. Bye!"

Kit shook her head in amazement as he ran off. It was strange, but kids seemed to have a nasty habit of being right sometimes. Her musings were interrupted by a voice actually coming through on her radio, which was definitely a new experience for the camp. She ran over to it and listened to the man's voice coming through, announcing his intentions to go to Atlanta. Her blood ran cold. That man was walking into a death trap and their communication system was so shitty that they couldn't even get through to him in time to warn him.

As she heard Shane and the others arguing over whether or not to put signs up, she decided that it was time she finally became part of this rag tag group of people. "I'll put up a warning myself if I have to," she announced. She hadn't shouted. It had, in fact, been only just barely above a whisper, but the shock of hearing any type of noise coming from her was enough that the others all stopped speaking and turned their heads towards her in disbelief. "People need to know."

"Nobody is going out alone," Shane said, and the tone of his voice made it very clear that he was not going to negotiate on the matter.

Kit shrank a little in defeat and was about to return to fixing the clothes when she saw how distraught Amy was over Andrea. Of the two social interactions she had attempted with new people today, only one of them could be called successful. Best two out of three? She nervously approached Amy to say "I get it." Amy's blue eyes turned to meet Kit's grey ones and, nervously playing with her hair, she continued. "I'm really scared that Glenn might not come back. I mean, it's not like we're family or anything, but I don't really talk to too many people, so I can't really afford to lose any of the few friends that I have."

What came next, Kit had not expected at all. Amy pulled her into a tight hug and held the hug for an uncomfortably long period of time. "Do you think they'll be okay?" she asked.

"Glenn's smart. If anyone can get them out of there, it's him. Plus, Andrea is really tough. I wouldn't want to go toe-to-toe with her." Amy smiled. "If they actually run into any walkers, the walkers may piss their pants in fear. She _was_ a lawyer after all and they can be pretty intimidating."

"I needed that," Amy told her. "And I hope Glenn is okay." She glanced over to where Kit had been working. "Do you want some help with those clothes? Carol and I are almost done with what we're doing now, so we could be there in about ten minutes."

It had been that easy. Kit couldn't believe it. "Sure," she choked with disbelief.

* * *

Just as Amy was beginning to become inconsolable, the group heard a weird noise echoing through the hills surrounding them and they all stood, trying to ascertain what it could possibly be. Then they all stared, dumbfounded, as Glenn pulled up in an _extremely _expensive car. Kit felt herself relax a little knowing her friend was alive. After Glenn had explained that everyone was okay and the damn car alarm was shut off, the van pulled up, proving him to be right. "I'm so happy you're alright," Kit breathed, turning to Glenn.

He went over and hugged her as if to affirm to her that he was actually there. "You can thank the new guy. He pulled our asses out of there."She turned and what she saw next was absolutely indescribable as she saw Lori and Carl reunited with the 'new guy' who was obviously Carl's father.

That night as they all sat around a fire, Kit in her customary seat between Dale and Glenn, she heard Rick's story and tried to imagine what it would be like to wake up in this hellish world. As Ed was complaining about the cold and Shane went over to sort him out, Dale turned to Kit and noticed that while all the others had jackets on, she was still only wearing her oversized, baggy t-shirt. "Aren't you cold? I can get you a jacket."

She gave a small laugh. "I think your definition of cold and my definition of cold are two very different things. Try taking a stroll in Montana when it is more than forty below zero and you're wearing little else but a light jacket. Now _that_ is cold. You Georgians are a bunch of pussies. Besides, I like this temperature." This statement lightened the mood for a moment as the others around the fire shook their heads in disbelief.

Unfortunately the lightened mood did last for _only_ a moment because when Shane returned, Dale brought up the subject of Daryl and Kit's heart sunk. As the others argued over who should be the one to tell Daryl, Glenn pointed something out. "It might sound better coming from a white guy." He turned to Kit. "Or girl. I think no matter who tells him, Kit needs to be there. She's one of the only people here who either of the Dixon brothers could tolerate." All eyes were on her now and she fidgeted under their gaze.

Dale put his two cents in. "I don't see a rational discussion coming from this."

"His brother was chained to a roof and left to die. I don't think Daryl is going to react to that any differently than any of us would. Merle may have been an asshole – I won't deny it – but Christ, I can't think of anything that deserves to die like that. However, Daryl is a much more reasonable man than his brother; I think once he gets past the shock of it all you may be able to talk to him. I'm telling you right now, though, he is going to head right back to Atlanta to get Merle."

Shane turned to her now. "Do you think you could talk with him? The Dixons seem to like you well enough."

Kit scoffed. "If by 'like' you mean that they don't hate me, then you're right. I don't think Daryl wants to shoot me with one of his arrows but I don't think my presence is going to diminish his anger." When she imagined the hurt that he would go through the next day, Kit felt sick to her stomach and hoped, if only for Daryl's sake, that Merle was okay. She had been sleeping much better lately, but she knew that she would get no sleep tonight – not with thoughts of tomorrow swirling around in her head.

* * *

The next morning, as she was cleaning her rifle, Kit couldn't help but laugh at Glenn as the 'vultures' stripped his car. The small moment of humor was quickly ruined when she heard Carl and Sofia scream in the woods. Within a matter of seconds her gun was loaded and ready for use, if necessary, as she ran to the woods to assist the others. The walker was devouring a dead deer and in the millisecond that Kit had to glance at it, she saw the arrows sticking out of it and knew immediately: Daryl was back.

Unfortunately it became very clear when Daryl arrived that he was not in a good mood. After kicking the walker and snapping at Dale, he asked about the possibility of the deer still being edible. The thought of that made Kit nauseous and it seemed that Shane shared the same sentiments. "I would not risk that."

"Damn shame," Daryl replied. Kit's throat tightened, knowing that before too long, Daryl's day would be made a thousand times worse than it already was.

As Daryl was storming into camp, she heard Shane say "There was a problem in Atlanta." She hurried after Shane as fast as her short legs could carry her and saw the beginnings of massive grief shoot through Daryl as he tried to keep himself at least somewhat composed. Matters only got worse once he heard about the condition that Merle had been left in.

As he lunged for Rick with a knife, Kit tried to intervene. "Daryl, please don't," she begged. But her small voice wasn't noticed by him in his rage and he continued towards the former sheriff. After he had been subdued, Kit rushed over to him, not quite sure what to do. She decided to try and place a hand on his arm only to be forcefully shoved away be Daryl.

She withdrew and stayed out of everyone's way as a plan was devised to go and rescue Merle. Once T-Dog had volunteered, she quickly piped in, "I'm coming too."

"The hell you are," Daryl spat. "You'd just slow us down. 'Sides, do you even know how ta use that thing." He gestured to her rifle.

"I happen to be very good with this."

"Don't change nothin'. You ain't goin'."

Kit didn't know why Daryl had been so insistent that she shouldn't accompany him to Atlanta, but it pissed her off. She was perfectly capable of handling herself. Thankfully, her pissy mood came in handy for washing clothes with the other women. Not a single speck of dirt or sweat was left on the clothes once she was finished taking out her anger on only let her mind wander away from that southern hick when she heard Jacqui say "I am seriously beginning to question the division of labor around here."

When Kit looked out and saw Shane and Carl goofing off in the water, it made her happy to see Carl actually having fun. "It's good to see the kid laughing, though. Besides, Shane isn't _that_ bad when it coming to being a lazy ass." The other women giggled at the comment about Shane.

As they were listing off the things they missed the women turned to Kit and she hated to admit it, but it felt good to know that they wanted to hear what she had to say. "I miss anything that had to do with chocolate," she sighed.

As all the women nodded in agreement, Andrea added, "I miss my vibrator."

What received even more raucous laughter from all the women was when they heard Carol say, "Me too." Kit was actually beginning to feel less angry that she hadn't gone with Daryl. It was a lot more fun to sit and talk with the women. Daryl and Glenn were great, but they were no replacement for good, old fashioned girl talk.

Of course the laughter had to come to an end when Ed lumbered over, looking like a crocodile. The longer he hovered over them and undermined them, the angrier the women got. Andrea chose to address it, telling Ed that if he had a problem, he could do the laundry himself. As things began to escalate, Kit couldn't take it anymore. He was _not_ going to continue like this; all of the anger that she felt towards Daryl, towards the walkers and towards anythin else reached a boiling point. She threw the jeans she had been washing on the ground and said, "Ed, I am about ten thousand percent done with your shit" before decking him as hard as she could.

The other woman stared in awe as they and Ed processed what had just happened. "You should not have done that you little bitch," he growled. Before she could react, Ed began choking Kit with both of his hands and was even lifting her off the ground. As she struggled to breathe, she used one of the only effective options left to her. She landed a decent kick to his balls which caused him to drop Kit as he doubled over in pain. She fell hard, gasping for air, but before her brawl with Ed could continue Shane came over and began beating the shit out of Ed with a fury that Kit had never seen in him before.

As Shane stalked off the women stared at each other, wide-eyed, trying to comprehend what had just happened. What the hell was wrong with the men at this camp? Beating their wives, chaining men to rooftops, implying she can't take care of herself, and beating the shit out of each other. She was beginning to think the women would be better off on their own. They did most of the work anyway.

* * *

When Kit returned to camp she got more than a few strange looks at marks on her neck became visible. Dale immediately scrambled down from the Winnebago. "What the hell happened?" he asked as he stared at her neck. Kit didn't tell him that the bruise forming on her hip from being dropped would probably look worse.

Andrea was still in shock from the incident earlier, but chose to answer for Kit. "She decided to pick a fight with Ed earlier." Before Dale could make a sound, though, she did choose to add one thing. "Don't think that Ed got out of it without a scratch. I'm not saying she should have done it – it was stupid – but that girl can pack a punch. Where did you learn to do that?"

Kit rubbed her right hand, which was more than a little tender after hitting Ed and took a seat near the Winnebago. "I threw javelin in high school and I guess some of the skills carried over."

"Are you okay?" Dale exclaimed.

Kit smirked. "It was worth it. That asshole had it coming." She coughed a few times before turning to Andrea. "You and Amy should go fishing; I know you'd been planning it. I think Shane bruised Ed's ego enough that he won't be showing up anytime soon." The older woman nodded and went with Amy to gather up Dale's fishing gear.

Before Kit could even think of relaxing, a very bored Carl sauntered over and pulled a chair up next to her. "So you really punched Ed?" he asked.

"Yep. I kicked him in the balls, too."

Carl's jaw dropped as his mouth formed a huge 'O'. "Do you think you hurt him when you hit him?"

"Well, I think it left a mark."

"Can you teach me?"

Kit's eyes drifted over to where Lori was watching her like a hawk. "I'm not sure if your parents would be too crazy about the idea. Besides, it really hurts your hand when you hit someone like that." She took her glasses off and cleaned them – not that it mattered; they were perpetually dirty here.

"But I'm bored," he moaned.

She glanced at him and raised her eyebrows. "If you're that bored, then you can read a book," she suggested. Carl pulled a face that told her how interested he was in books. "Have you ever read 'The Hobbit'?" He shook his head. "That, my friend, is a book I _guarantee_ you will like. I have not yet met a single person who was dissatisfied."

"Really?"

"Really," she promised. "It is one of my favorite books so you would have to be very careful to keep it in good condition. Do you think you can handle it?" she challenged. He nodded eagerly in response as Kit strolled over to her van to retrieve the book and handed it to Carl.

As he went to find a placed to read it, Lori approached Kit. "I have never been able to get that kid to willingly read a book," she remarked.

"The trick is to make them think that it's really impressive for them to read it. It probably also helps that I'm not his mom."

Lori laughed. "Parents aren't cool enough to listen to."

"He's a good kid."

Sitting by the fire was nice after such an eventful day. Kit had her gun with her, as she now did out of habit, but it was relaxing to see the flames flickering and to hear everyone else talking. She figured she had had enough talking for one day. No sooner had Kit finished her fish when she heard a blood curdling scream come from the Winnebago. She couldn't believe how many walkers she saw swarming into camp, and truth be told she was a little out of practice killing them. Nevertheless, she took pointed her rifle right at one of those fuckers and blew its brains out. Now was not the time to miss her target.

During the adrenaline rush, she lost all concept of time, just trying to get rid of as many walkers as she could without dying in the process.

Daryl was rushing into camp when he saw Kit, standing alone, shooting her rifle. Despite it being dark out, she was incredibly accurate with it, and the speed with which she reloaded was almost moving. She was calm, cool and completely collected. In fact, it almost resembled some sort of macabre dance as the walkers near her fell to the ground. Despite the horror of the situation, he was a little turned on by it. He would never deny that he found a woman who could shoot very sexy. He lined himself up near her, shooting them as well. He couldn't help buy say "Damn, Dex! You actually _can_ shoot."

"I keep telling you people I'm from Montana, don't I?"

When it was over, she felt numb and incredibly sick to her stomach. The smell of all the rotting flesh caused the fish to come up, but she wasn't surprised – she had never had a strong stomach when it came to nauseating smells. There were no words for what had happened, but when she saw Glenn was all right she rushed over to him and they held each other for a long time.

Daryl leered over at the Asian. He couldn't explain why, but he wanted to be the one holding her right now and although he hated to admit it, he actually needed it a little after the type of day it had been. Instead, he stood alone as everyone else, with the exception of Andrea, held their loved ones close.

**A/N: I'd really like to know what you all think of Kit. Like all of the characters, she's going to evolve to adapt to the apocalypse, but if there's something you don't like about her, feel free to tell me because I want to make this story as good as possible. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Kit glanced over to the despondent Andrea as she continued the help with the cleanup. Every part of her body was caked in blood, sweat, and dirt – she even wondered if it would ever completely come off. She and Daryl both had a spare moment as Lori and Rick made attempts to get Amy's body. She was sitting down, physically exhausted from the events of the previous night and emotionally exhausted by the extent of loss in the group. "You okay?"

She glanced up and saw Daryl sitting down next to her. She nodded. "As okay as I can be, I suppose, given…" She didn't need to explain further. The bodies piled up spoke for themselves.

"The pills?" he asked.

"Just fine without them. I guess that's _one_ thing to be thankful for." She swallowed hard. "Merle?"

"He's alive, but the bastard wasn't there. Dunno where he went off to, but he was long gone."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He scoffed. "They was right, you know. Ain't no one here sorry 'bout Merle but me. You never liked Merle, so why should you be sorry he's gone?" He hadn't raised his voice, but the anger was very clear.

"You're right," she admitted. "I never liked Merle. But that doesn't mean I can't be sorry he's gone."

"An' why's that?"

"Because I know you miss him…because he's your brother."

Daryl honestly didn't know how to respond. She turned to him and he got lost in those swirling pools of mercury again. "We shoulda taken you with us. I didn't know you was actually a good shot." He supposed that was the best response he possibly could have mustered after what she had just said. The damn girl cared enough to be sorry his brother was missing? Even though Merle was an asshole? It was then that he noticed the marks on her neck.

She caught him staring. "You should see the other guy," she joked. Given that she hadn't seen Ed since the previous day, it was probably safe to say he was dead. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have made the joke.

Daryl chose not to respond, but a pissed look crossed his face. He would find the bastard that did that to her and find some way to make sure they paid for what they did. A sad look crossed her face. "I haven't seen Bernie anywhere, though."

"Who the hell is Bernie?" Daryl had to make sure there wasn't anyone unaccounted for who may now be wandering around as a walker.

"My cat," she responded. He stared at her, trying to decipher whether or not she was serious. All of this was going on and she was thinking about her damn cat? "I hope he's just hiding." Daryl huffed. He had work to do and he was going to be keeping a close eye on that dead girl – the ticking time bomb.

Just as the two thought that things couldn't get any worse, Jacqui began shouting about Jim being bitten and it looked as if a brawl was about to go down. Kit saw that Daryl, as usual, was eager to jump the gun. She grabbed his arm. "Jesus, Daryl. Calm down." To her surprise, he obliged and lowered the pickaxe that he had been threatening Jim with.

The few members of the group still left were gathered around trying to figure out what to do about Andrea and Jim. Kit wanted to stay out of things, for the most part. She figured that she would be okay with whatever decision the group made. She wasn't picky, but when Rick suggested that the CDC may have a cure, she rolled her eyes, which only Daryl noticed. He didn't understand why she didn't say something, but then he remembered what she had said in the woods about the CDC: it probably didn't have a cure. With this in mind, he said "I don't think the CDC got no cure," he grumbled. He glanced at Jim and he _really_ wanted to kill the poor bastard before he turned but then Kit flashed him a warning look and he thought better of it. For some reason, he had an easier time keeping his impulsive nature in check with her standing there; honestly, he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

As Kit glanced around at the grieving, it made her a little grateful that she had lost her family so early. There hadn't been any hope allowed to bloom only to be suffocated later. She hadn't known Amy particularly well, but when they had finally started talking to each other, she had been so sweet that Kit could hardly believe it. There was nothing she could possibly say or do for Andrea that could soften the other woman's pain, so she figured she would stay out of it and give her time to grieve. But watching Andrea shoot the reanimated Amy brought back memories of shooting her own sisters so she figured that if anyone at the camp could even begin to conceive the agony that Andrea was in, it was her. As the dead were buried, Kit supposed that Dale was right: words had a habit of falling short.

* * *

Daryl found Kit wandering around in the woods calling for that damn cat but he figured it would be a break from hauling bodies, so he fell in step beside her. "I'll help you find the hairy menace," he grumbled. Her face lit up as the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face blossomed and in that moment he realized that he liked making her happy. He was so fucking screwed.

As they continued the search, he asked her a question. "Why ain't you talking with the others 'bout where ta go?"

"I suppose it doesn't matter that much to me. All I want is for us all to stay together. You know, not break 'The Fellowship'." His eyebrows pulled together in a thoroughly confused look. "'Lord of the Rings'? No?" She looked a little embarrassed then lowered her eyes to continue the very meticulous sweep she was doing of the forest floor and the trees above it.

"You have good ideas. Hell, I didn't know nothing 'bout the CDC but I remembered what you said a while ago 'bout there bein' no cure, so I spoke up. Thas something they need ta consider."

"The CDC may not have a cure, but I think the fort and the CDC have about an equal likelihood of actually still being running. Though, the CDC likely had more fail safes to prevent it from being invaded by walkers. Both facilities could be secure, but if there's no one there, then we are going to have a difficult time getting in. Personally, I'm more in favor of the CDC."

"An' why is that? You said they was abou' equal."

"The fort does fall short of the CDC when it comes to one thing: answers. The CDC may not have a cure, but it will likely have research inside of it, whether someone is there or not. I'm curious about this disease and learning something about it would make me feel a little better, I guess."

"See, if ya told the group tha', they'd probably go to the CDC."

"I _do _have another reason not to get involved this time," she said with a smirk.

"An' that is?"

"I'd rather not come between the dick measuring contest between Shane and Rick." This earned her a pretty nice laugh from Daryl.

"Ya seem ta have all this figured out pretty well. What was you studying at college with yer fancy scholarship?"

"I was undecided. The university didn't have an 'apocalypse' major so I wasn't quite sure what direction I wanted to go in."

"Look," he said. "It's startin' to get dark, but I'll get up early tomorrow to look for yer cat, if you'd like."

"Thank you." He could see that she really meant it. If the oversized squirrel meant that much to her, he supposed it was worth the time and effort to look for it. To make her happy.

He was up at the crack of dawn the next morning, as promised, only to see Kit already waiting for him. "Right on time," she remarked with a smile for him. He hoped that she had at least gotten _some_ sleep. He knew that she had been up late into the night searching inside the camp for the cat, but he had gone to bed before she was done.

Their efforts, just as before, yielded no results and as they headed to camp he could see that she was absolutely crushed, with tears beginning to form in her eyes over Bernie. He internally cursed himself for having been so useless to her, but he had figured from the beginning that they wouldn't find it. She was walking a number of paces ahead of him, head hung slightly, when he heard a tiny 'mew' come from the trees. His head shot up and, sure enough, after a few moments of scanning, he saw the damn thing huddled on top of a branch. "Well I'll be damned," he whispered. "Kit! Get over here!"

She saw how excited Daryl was and sprinted over to him, seeing Bernie up in the tree, crying with relief. When the cat saw Kit right below him, he ran down the tree and jumped right into her arms, rubbing his face up against hers. A very large smile appeared on Daryl's face. Not because he cared for the cat – the damn thing looked a lot like a raccoon – but because he knew that he had spared her at least one heartbreak.

As she finished loading up her minivan, he saw her carefully tuck the cat into a bed right behind the front passenger seat, leaving food beside him. When she closed the door she ran over to Daryl, practically crying again. "Thank you." She threw her arms around him so quickly that he almost flinched. The hug practically choked him – it was so tight! But he liked it. When she released him from her embrace, her face was very close to his and for a millisecond, she almost looked like she might kiss him. Before he could make anything of it, she quickly dropped her arms to her side and shuffled awkwardly away, getting into the minivan with the Asian.

He must have imagined it. There was no other explanation because she could not possibly be attracted to him in any way. The very idea of it was ridiculous! Inconceivable!

* * *

Seeing Jim disappear in the rearview mirror was difficult to say the least. Not necessarily because Kit had been so attached to him, though he had seemed nice enough. She began to wonder whether or not it was worth it to become attached to people in this new world where those that you loved could be so easily taken from you. But then she glanced in the rearview mirror again and saw Daryl's truck traveling steadily behind her.

She knew that only a matter of months before now, she would not have liked Daryl. Hell! She probably would not have even met many people even _similar_ to him. And yet, when he was around her, she felt so good and happy. Not in the way that she was happy around Glenn or Dale or anyone else in the camp or anyone else she had ever met. For some reason, which she couldn't conjure for the life of her, they worked. It was that simple. She felt her entire body grow warm as she caught a glimpse of his face, before quickly returning her eyes to the road. He wasn't particularly attractive – and certainly not very charming – but the more time they spent together, the more alluring he became.

It hurt her a little to think that he would never reciprocate her feelings, but she supposed that she could live with only being his friend.

The stench at the CDC was unbearable for Kit. She was thankful she hadn't eaten anything recently or she would be emptying her stomach right this second. As it was, she was having a difficult time holding down the water she had been drinking. She kept glancing back at her minivan, to make sure that Bernie was still staring at her through the window. She had left the window down enough so that he could escape if need be…if none of them returned. The place was a mess but just as she had suspected, the actual CDC building was secure.

As the others were beginning to become agitated because they thought the CDC was the wrong decision, she placed her hand on Daryl's arm in an attempt to keep him calm. The last thing they needed was for him to go flying off the handle because they needed to concentrate on shooting walkers.

Things were escalating and she was terrified, though it wasn't because of the walkers or the lack of food and fuel. The discord from the other members of the group was disorienting her, pulling her mind in every direction. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her elbow and pull her close. Her arm and Daryl's arm were now touching as he held his crossbow – ready for whatever was coming. Just when Kit felt as if she couldn't take the yelling and crying anymore, the door to the CDC opened.

The man inside was concise, which was good. Kit was grabbing things from her car to bring with her: her yellow day pack, Bernie, a few other things but all she wanted was to get the hell away from the graveyard they were standing in.

Thankfully, the tense atmosphere soon became relaxed as Dr. Jenner showed them some hospitality – after a blood test of course. Kit stuck to a very small glass of wine; she had learned that she did not have a particularly high tolerance for alcohol and much more than that single glass of wine would not yield positive results. Daryl, on the other hand, apparently had a much higher tolerance and was taking advantage of the copious bounty that the good doctor had offered them.

Her interest was piqued when Shane enquired about what had happened there before they had arrived. Though no one else in their group was in the mood to have what would undoubtedly be a very morbid conversation, Kit was ready for that conversation at any time it was convenient. Like she had told Daryl: she was curious. Much to her dismay, the discussion was ended early.

Her dismay was quickly ended when she had heard the glorious words 'hot shower'. Feeling the warm water running over her was absolutely indescribable. It felt as if when the sweat and dirt were washed off of her at least a little piece of the pain from the past couple of days was washed away with it. And she was willing to take her dear sweet time in the bathroom. She did as Jenner said and kept her shower reasonably short, but she stayed in the bathroom a good long while, giddy from how clean she felt.

Not very far away, Daryl had just stepped out of the bathroom, only to come face-to-face with Dale. "I've seen the way you look at her, you know." Daryl tensed, thinking he had a pretty good idea of what was next. In this case, Daryl was very happy to be wrong. "I've also seen the way she looks at you."

The old man had to be crazy. "Nah, she's with the Asian kid."

"I can assure you," the old man said "that she and Glenn are nothing more than friends. I was going to say something a while ago, but things went south too quickly at the quarry to have this conversation. Before we left, I didn't know what to think about you two. Then I saw how you helped her find Bernie and assumed that it wasn't because you had a fondness for cats." He rubbed the side of his face, clearly flabbergasted. "I'm not even going to begin trying to comprehend whatever this is, but I now think that it's a good thing…for both of you. Just don't keep her waiting too long."

With that, the old man continued on his way, leaving Daryl at a loss for words. That geezer was so adamant, that Daryl figured he would take a chance.

He knocked on the open doorway to Kit's room. When she turned around and saw him, her face lit up and Daryl began to think old-timer may just be right. "Hey, Dex." For the first time ever, Daryl saw her in a shirt that wasn't three sizes too big and thought to himself that it was a very nice sight. He had assumed her tits weren't very big but without a baggy shirt hiding them, he saw that she definitely had more to offer in that department than just about any other women in their group, with maybe the exception of Andrea. It was a very pleasant surprise.

"Hey," she replied. "You really clean up nice." She turned to a very disgruntled Bernie who was sitting on top of a ledge in the room. "Cleaning him was a pain in the ass, but I figured I won't have to do it again in a while." As she said this, she sat on the floor, looking more relaxed than Daryl thought he had ever seen her. He tentatively sat down next to her, noticing that the cat was eyeing him. He could have sworn it looked like it was deciding what it thought of him, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. That cat should not have reminded him of Dale as much as it did.

Kit leaned against Daryl and he thought that this was as good a moment as any to grow a pair. He turned to her and, gently holding her upper arm, kissed her. At first, he could tell that he had surprised her but after a second, she placed her hand on his shoulder and gave clear indication that he was free to continue. After they pulled away from each other, they could see the shock on one another's faces and they cracked up a little bit.

She took one of his hands and placed it under her shirt, sending a none too subtle message of what she wanted that night and Daryl was happy to oblige.

After they had 'broken the new place in', as Kit had called it, they sat together on the floor again, enjoying the quiet together just like they had back at the quarry, except now they had a few extra benefits added in. Daryl turned and gave a devious smile. "You must have one hell of a run burn," he said with a smirk.

He turned her shoulder to see her back and she gave the only reply he could have expected from her. "Admiring your handiwork?"

He laughed. "Actually, I'm lookin' at yer ink. Didn't know you had any." Across her shoulder blades, spanning the entire width of her back was a jagged mountain range. Below that, two trees stood on either side of her spine. It wasn't his style – they were hippie tattoos – but the work was good and he had to appreciate that.

"I figured no matter where I go I'll take the mountains with me." She admired his as well, though she felt the same way about his tattoos as he felt about hers. "We are definitely two very different people," she remarked before she noticed the scars running crisscrossing his back.

He turned so she couldn't see his back anymore, self-conscious. To his complete surprise, she didn't give him a look of pity the way most people would have. Instead, she looked down at the tops of her thighs where Daryl saw parallel lines running up and down.

"Seems we ain't _that_ different." He could scarcely believe it. "Seems we've both been in some pretty dark places and I know I sure as hell don't want to return there." Their backgrounds didn't matter, their differences didn't matter, and the world around them didn't matter. What mattered what that they understood each other in spite of those differences. "Come on, Dex, let's go to bed."


	5. Chapter 5

Waking up with Kit up against him was a very pleasant sensation. The room was a little cool but her body radiated heat like no other woman's he had ever met. What was far less pleasant was seeing the damn cat sitting on the other side of Kit, eyes narrowed, regarding him with scrutiny. If was fucking creepy and only confirmed to Daryl why he didn't like cats. Kit stirred and made an irritated noise. "We're going to have to go and be social, aren't we?" He laughed as they both climbed out of bed and put some clothes on. Unfortunately for him, she picked up the cat as they went to breakfast. (Since it had gone missing, she didn't let it out of her sight.)

When they were watching a video of TS-19 Kit focused on the images, understanding what she was looking at even before Jenner had explained it. Daryl looked a little lost, but she was far too fascinated to try and catch him up. She was finally able to put some of the pieces together as she watched the video.

As darkness invaded the brain of TS-19, Glenn asked "What is that?"

Kit couldn't help but explain. "The brain is dying." Every class she had ever taken that involved the human brain came flooding back to her, filling in all the holes. Now she was curious about the vision centers of the brain. It looked as if only the more primitive vision centers of the brain were working, so did that mean that their vision was different than it had been? Maybe they could only detect movement but that idea only made her think of Jurassic Park and how well that had worked out.

What surprised her was when everyone was shocked to hear that nothing was left. How had they not drawn that conclusion earlier? That was the assumption that Kit had made a long time ago. Even Daryl was left reeling. "Man, I'm going to get shit-faced drunk again."

Kit had been so focused on TS-19 that she had failed to notice something very important: the clock. Even before VI had mentioned the decontamination, Kit knew exactly what would happen if the power ran out. Articles came out on the internet all the time about the stuff in the CDC and other facilities like it. She remembered a particular article from BBC that had discussed a 'super flu' that had been bred. She had mentioned to Daryl that these facilities had fail safes and the decontamination was one of them.

Daryl turned to Kit and saw her eyes grow wide. "We have to get out of here," she whispered.

"What's goin' on?" he asked, as the other men went to check the generator.

"It's a fail safe."

"What do ya mean a fail safe?"

She ran her fingers through her hair, hand shaking. "Facilities like these have a bunch of diseases in them. They are designed so that, no matter what, those diseases don't get released somehow. Without power, there is the possibility that all that nasty shit could be set on the world and the computers are supposed to make sure that doesn't happen. This entire place will be decontaminated as VI said and that means we die. I don't know what way the facility is designed to do this, but I can tell you right now that whatever it is, it will kill us." Her breathing was uneven and she stuttered while she spoke, but she had made her point.

"She's right." They all turned to Jenner. "VI, define HITs." As the fail safe was defined by the computers, the group shared Kit's fear.

Daryl pulled her in close, just as he had before they had entered the death trap. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I wasn't thinking about this when we came in. I could have told you earlier, if I had just thought about this for a single fucking second."

The men quickly grabbed axes and began trying to open the doors while Kit stood numbly, knowing that those doors wouldn't open without the computers. She just stood there. Once the others realized they wouldn't get the doors open, they tried to reason with Jenner and Kit finally felt like she could be useful, even if it just meant preventing Daryl from killing their only possible way out. Rick was good at that type of thing and as she put every ounce of energy into holding Daryl back, she hoped it was enough.

As the others pleaded with him, Kit kept quiet. She was good at that and it seemed that her faith in Rick was well placed because only moments after he spoke with Jenner, the doctor opened the doors. Kit and Daryl bolted to where they had left their things. It was difficult for her to run holding Bernie, but there was no way in hell she was leaving him behind. She trailed behind Daryl but he would glance back often to make sure she was still there. It was all a blur, though. Even the grenade.

She scrambled into her van and sat on the floor holding Bernie close to her chest as the CDC building was destroyed. She looked at her pet and he was absolutely terrified, unable to understand what had just happened. After a moment, she got up and looked around, making sure the others were okay. She and Daryl made eye contact for a moment from their respective cars, but quickly returned to the matter at hand. She carefully placed the trembling Bernie in the passenger seat and began driving away with the others. After a while, he calmed down and began to sleep in the seat, but relaxing was far from the minds of everyone else in the group.

* * *

A handful of the cars had to be abandoned. This, thankfully, did not include Kit's minivan. It got pretty decent highway mileage and a lot of things could be stored in it, which prevented it from being left behind.

Ultimately, just as Dale had predicted, the Winnebago broke down. Daryl, like many others in the group, saw it as a much-needed opportunity to resupply. He hadn't given much thought to his opinion on Lori, but her next comment irritated him. "This is a graveyard."

"And?" he asked.

"I don't know how I feel about this."

Before he could say anything, Kit decided to chime in. "It's not a matter of how comfortable you feel about it, it's a matter of necessity. I suggest you begin looking." Most people in the group were surprised she had said anything at all, nevertheless supporting Daryl. Apart from Dale, it seemed none of them had picked up on their relationship, which suited Daryl just fine for the time being. Now was not the time for them to be making decisions about how far to take things. He was happy Kit was finally beginning to take his advice, though; it was about time she started speaking up.

While many of the others were reluctant to search the cars, he and Kit set right to it. She may not talk but she could face the reality of their situation. Kit had grabbed some empty bags from the minivan and tossed them to the others so they could begin collecting things that were useful. Personal care products were of special interest to her and, she suspected, to the other women as well. Hygiene came second during the apocalypse, but if she got the chance to grab deodorant and soap she would take it. Many people had also been smart enough to pack non-perishables which she happily threw into the collection that was piling up in her bag.

She glanced back just in time to see Shane and Glenn scramble under a car so she followed suit, no questions asked. It was a good thing, too, because soon after she had done so, she heard the distinctive noise of walkers. She steeled herself as she saw their feet passing her car because being unable to see anything else was incredibly nerve-wracking. She couldn't see or hear any of the others and couldn't know whether or not they were safe. Thankfully, the enormous herd of walkers passed and she very carefully came out from under the car, gripping her rifle closely. At this point, though, the gun was more or less useless because if she used it, the entire herd would return for an afternoon snack.

Scanning the area quickly, she noticed Daryl and T-Dog just ahead of her. She went over, staying low and noticed how much blood T-Dog was losing. She turned to Daryl and whispered "He needs a tourniquet." In the heat of the moment, she kept drawing blanks as to what could possibly be used as a tourniquet without digging through the cars. "Belt?" she asked. Daryl nodded and quickly removed his so she could tighten it around T-Dog's arm.

No sooner had that situation been rectified then they heard Sophia shrieking behind them, causing both Kit and Daryl to shoot upright and see her scrambling into the forest with Rick close behind. "You got this?" Daryl asked, getting a quick nod in return. While Daryl ran back to see if he could help with Sophia, Kit had to determine how she was going to get T-Dog back to the Winnebago. She wasn't very big and would have enormous difficulty supporting his weight, but she saw no other options but to stumble back with him.

She stayed with the group to root through more cars, confident that if there was anyone who could track the girl down, it was Daryl. What she hadn't been hoping for was to be caught up in yet another debate. She had only been feeding Bernie and making sure he had enough water, but the argument at the Winnebago was difficult to miss. "Where's my gun?" The angry Andrea stormed in Kit's direction and glared at the rifle she had with her.

"Don't look at me," she insisted, hands held up in surrender. "I'm on your side. As long as you're not stupid enough to go shooting off that gun while a herd of walkers is passing through, you can go ahead and keep it, as far as I'm concerned."

"And Dale's concerns?" Andrea asked angrily.

"He shouldn't be treating you like this because whatever you choose, it's your choice," Kit admitted. "But you should also realize that he is doing all this because he cares about you. Try not to hold it against him for too long, would be my suggestion."

"You're the first person who seems to think I have the right to that choice," she grumbled.

"Still, I don't think you should decide to kill yourself only a few days after your sister's death. If you intend to commit suicide, then I think that is your choice – especially given the fact that the world has gone to shit – but I also think that you should think it through for quite a while before making any decisions. You need to consider how much you would be hurting the group if you did that. We care about you, Andrea – Dale especially." The other blonde looked at Kit as if she was actually considering what she had said. "I can teach you how to shoot, if you'd like, so you can get your gun back."

"Really?"

"Only when we have a good opportunity, of course," Kit reminded her. "I also don't think that I'm the only one on your side." She glanced back at Shane and Andrea seemed to get the message.

* * *

The next day, Kit regarded the weapons Carl had found carefully. She ended up picking a long knife, figuring it was probably a good idea to lengthen to reach of her arms, if possible. Shane glanced at her after explaining the gun situation. "If you even _think_ about taking my rifle away from me, you are in for a world of hurt," she warned.

Shane raised his eyebrows dismissively and looked as if he was going to try and forcibly take it from her before Daryl interrupted. "She knows how to shoot, Shane. She's good, so I suggest you let her keep it." Before any more could be said on the matter, they couldn't help but overhear the heated conversation between Andrea and Dale.

"Shit," Kit moaned quietly. "I think I may have encouraged that."

Daryl shrugged. "The woman makes a point and it ain't none of my concern."

The walk through the woods was a quiet one, keeping Kit on her toes. As she was one of the few who actually carried a gun, she had an extra responsibility. After they found the tent, the group got their hopes up and Carol called for her daughter. Kit stood with Rick and Shane as Daryl went inside the tent, but given the stench coming from it, she knew Sophia wouldn't be there.

"Daryl?" Carol asked desperately.

"It's not her," Kit said. "I don't think anyone would want to be anywhere near this thing." She was beginning to adjust to the stench of rotting bodies – at least enough that she wouldn't vomit every time she smelled one.

Daryl only confirmed Kit's theory when he stepped out of the tent and announced "Ain't her. Some guy. He, uh, opted out."

The bells they heard gave everyone some hope, but they also put Kit on edge. If they could hear the bells, then walkers certainly would be drawn to them, so they needed to be quick before the damn things started to swarm. Now she was more thankful than ever that she had brought the knife. Initially, the only walkers they encountered were inside the church so Kit sat back quietly and let the men do the 'macho' work. She was just as happy to take up the rear and guard against other walkers, which ended up being the job she took on the way back to the Winnebago, as well.

* * *

The walk back had very thick tension between the other women which Kit was _not_ going to get involved in. As the other women were carrying on about hoping and praying, Daryl reminded Kit of part of the reason she was attracted to him. "We are going to locate that little girl and she is going to be just fine. Am I the only one Zen around here? Good lord!"

This eased some of the tension as all the women smiled over Daryl's statement. Kit had never really spoken with Carol, but she supposed now was as good a time as any to start. "Sophia has a lot of advantages, you know," she assured Carol.

The other women gave her a look of complete shock. "She does?"

"She definitely does. First of all, the temperature here is a good one – she is not going to be freezing to death out here. On top of that, there are no major predators out here likely to prey on humans apart from the walkers. That's even assuming there are any wild predators around here. She knows where a source of fresh water is. Sophia is also a really smart girl." She gave Carol a comforting smile. "If she keeps her wits, I have absolutely no doubts that we'll find her."

Kit ended up being incredibly happy that she had decided to take up the rear, because when Andrea began to fall behind, Kit could stay close. Andrea clearly didn't see the walker trailing a ways behind her and Kit figured this was her chance to try out her new weapon. Taking a strong hold of her knife, she managed to jump the walker and ram the knife right into the eye socket, quick and easy. The others had heard the quick scuffle and turned around in surprise. "Well that wasn't so bad," Kit remarked with a smile as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Before any of the others could reply, Kit heard a noise and assumed it was another walker, holding up her knife defensively. What she certainly _hadn't_ expected was a woman on a horse looking for Lori. Once Carl was mentioned, Lori climbed onto the horse with no hesitation as the woman gave them directions to their property.

Kit eyed the two women as they galloped off on the horse. "She'll be fine, Daryl. I don't think that woman would know as much as she did unless she was telling the truth. Let's get our asses back to the highway and then find this farm."

It was decided very quickly that the majority of the group would spend the night on the highway, with the exception of Glenn, but T-Dog was in bad shape. "That cut has gone from bad to worse and he has a serious blood infection. Unless he gets some type of treatment fast he could die." Looking at T-Dog, it was very clear that Dale's concern was warranted.

Hearing this, Daryl sauntered over to the motorcycle, picking up the rag and pulling a plastic baggie from the bike. "Keep your oily rag off my brother's motorcycle. You should have said something earlier. I have my brother's stash." He began mumbling all the different drugs he had in there, until he came upon what he wanted. "Ain't the generic stuff, neither. That's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

That comment made Kit pull a face and hope that Daryl had been a little more careful in the past than his brother had been. "I guess today is just full of surprises," she remarked. "Let's hurry up and get that sign ready." She looked warily at the sky. "It'll be getting dark soon and I'd at least like the protection of my mom-mobile."

Dale decided to take first watch that night as Kit began clearing space to sleep in her minivan. "R.V. would be safer."

She looked and saw Daryl standing close behind her. "Yeah, well I don't think I'll be getting much sleep in there. It's cramped and besides, I've got a few sleeping pads that I used to use when I went camping. There is plenty of space if you want to join me."

"I think I may just take you up on that offer." He noticed the others were busy so he kissed her, hoping they hadn't taken any steps back since that night at the CDC.

"Good."

Daryl did have to admit that Kit's sleeping arrangements were more comfortable than what he would have had in the Winnebago, but in spite of that he couldn't sleep. The idea of the girl being alone in the woods for a second night didn't sit well with him and his mind was racing thinking about what tomorrow might bring. He didn't want Kit to wake up alone, though. He turned over to see that her eyes were open and she was completely awake. "I'm not the only one who can't sleep," she said. "I guess now we're being pretty obvious, sleeping in the same car."

"I s'pose." He hoped she wasn't embarrassed to be seen with him. He knew he couldn't exactly be considered the 'catch' of the group. In fact, there were moments where he thought of what things would be like if she had ended up with Glenn or the horny cop.

"I've never been particularly fond of PDA," she warned him. "But I hope you're ready to share a tent with me. We have nothing to hide, after all."

He felt relieved to hear that, but the girl was still on his mind. "I want to go looking for Sophia. Are you coming with me?"

They both sat up and Kit glanced at the Winnebago. You should invite Andrea," she suggested. "I think she needs to blow off some steam and besides, it would be better if there was at least one person here who can shoot worth a damn and fight a walker. I'll keep Dale company," she drawled. "There's no point in laying here if I'm not going to get any sleep."

They both stepped out of the van and Daryl slung the crossbow around his shoulder. Kit gave him a long kiss. "Be careful." He nodded and went to the Winnebago to get Andrea who was, unsurprisingly, awake as well.

After they had walked into the woods and Kit had climbed to the top of the Winnebago, Dale decided to make a comment. "So, you and Daryl?"

"Me and Daryl."


	6. Chapter 6

"You actually like that shit?" Kit asked, a disgusted look on her face. Dale looked at the Marlboro pack he was holding and shrugged. "Just please don't smoke it around me. It smells absolutely disgusting."

They heard a noise and both jumped, only to see it was just Carol coming to join them. "I wanted to wait for them to come back."

Kit smiled at her to show she was welcome. "I guess no one is getting sleep tonight besides Bernie."

Both she and Carol could see the concerned look on Dale's face. "You don't have to worry," Carol said kindly. "She's safe with Daryl. If anything happens, he'll protect her."

"All I heard is if something happens," he responded grimly.

Carol gave Kit a knowing look and she rolled her eyes. "Go ahead. Get it out of your system now."

"I can't tell whether I should have seen it coming or not." She gave Kit a smile, but it wasn't to mock her; Carol was just appreciating the humor in the situation.

"I sure as hell didn't when I first met him and Merle so that makes two of us. Carol's right, though, Dale: Andrea is safe with Daryl. He has his priorities straight."

"I appreciate what he's doing."

"Believe it or not, I think that Daryl is finally beginning to show us his true nature. He's a good man. He also happens to be one tenacious bastard so he will not quit until Sophia is back with us where she belongs. We are all with you, Carol." The two women leaned against each other sitting on the Winnebago and staring out into the woods, hoping that all three of their loved ones would return safely.

When they did return, Carol was visibly shaken to seek that Sophia wasn't with them and she retreated back into the Winnebago.

* * *

The next day, after a very awkward funeral for the deceased Otis, the group was setting camp very quickly before returning their attention to the search for Sophia. Kit was setting up a tent when Daryl strolled over and she greeted him with an enormous smile. "Hey, Griz," she said playfully.

"Griz?" he asked.

"I thought that you ought to have a nickname, too. So, unless you have any objection, I thought Griz suited you well, as in grizzly bear. And let me tell you, it is quite the compliment to be compared to a grizzly."

"Is that so? In what ways do I deserve such a high honor, if I may ask?"

"Well first of all, they are some of the toughest motherfuckers nature has cooked up. When Lewis and Clark first encountered one, I think it took thirteen bullets to ultimately bring it down – at least as the story goes. Their skulls are so thick and tough that bullets have been known to ricochet off of them. If you don't give one a reason, they won't attack you but if you get them mad, you sure as hell better get out of their way. So you remind me of a grizzly."

"I like it."

"Like I said," she smirked. "I think it suits you." She saw that the others were getting ready to search again. "Better throw your stuff in here really fast because we are going looking for Sophia again."

It looked as though they would be among the only ones looking with Rick and Shane in such bad shape. "I'll go up and down the creek," Daryl said.

"We should split up and cover more ground."

Daryl nodded in agreement. "Makes sense."

Kit was a little wary to part with her rifle, though. But Rick was right: Herschel was being very kind to them, so they ought to follow his rules. She placed the gun on top of the truck, staring woefully at it. If Herschel was going to ask her to get rid of her gun, then she had no qualms asking one more favor of him.

As Herschel was headed to the house, Kit jogged after him. "Herschel!" The man turned around and looked at her curiously. "My name is Kit Eldridge." They shook hands and she could tell immediately that he was suspicious, which was reasonable. "I'm afraid that I have one more favor to ask of you. You see, there is one member of our group who has had a particularly hard time since the outbreak and has been absolutely miserable being cooped up in a car all day. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind keeping him in your house for the time being so he has a safe place where he can wander freely and I don't have to worry about him running off."

"Miss Eldridge, I'm not sure how I feel about having your people in my house."

"Well," Kit admitted, embarrassed. "He's not exactly a person. He's my cat." Herschel gave her a surprised look. "He's very friendly and I think he would be therapeutic for Carl. I promise he wouldn't be any trouble, I just want him to be safe."

Herschel gave a small chuckle. "I think something can be arranged. I was afraid that the favor you were going to ask would be a little bigger. What's his name?"

"Bernie."

"Tell you what, if you put him in the house, I'll make sure that Beth takes real good care of him while you folks are here."

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how much it means to me."

"Well I'm doing it a little more for him than for you, but you are very welcome."

Knowing that Bernie would be safe and happy, Kit set off looking for Sophia with a much lighter step. Unfortunately, her search didn't turn up anything. Daryl had been trying to teach her a couple things about tracking but to put things generously, her skills were a little rudimentary. She did enjoy the search, in spite of the fact she didn't find Sophia and she felt awful in the Georgian humidity. Even with the heat and humidity, simply being inside the woods was worth it and made her feel at home. These woods weren't the wild, tangled forests in the Rocky Mountains that she was used to – with their towering pine trees and the enormous glacial lakes fed by mountain streams. But, if she closed her eyes and breathed the air when a breeze traveled through, she could almost pretend she was back in Montana. She only ran into one walker, which was quickly eliminated, so the trip was uneventful in both the best and worst of ways, she supposed.

When she got back to camp, it was nice to finally be able to sleep in a tent with Daryl and get the disbelieving stares of the rest of the group out of the way. She pulled her soaked shirt off and put on one that was significantly less sweaty. "Still don't like the humidity, Dex?"

"No," she replied. "Truth be told, Griz, I'd much rather our group be in Montana."

"An' why's that?" He looked genuinely curious.

"Well, it doesn't have this humidity, for one thing, which also means the insect population is much smaller. Besides, I'd feel more useful there. I know the terrain, I know the wildlife, edible plants and I even have ideas of some places we could camp out and be pretty safe."

"Such as?" he asked, as she crawled onto the sleeping mats they were sharing.

"Wild Horse Island," she said with a smile. "It's an island in Flathead lake – which is a HUGE lake by the way – and unless walkers somehow become very good at swimming, they won't be able to get us there. There is also probably some fancy cabin there bigger than three houses put together, constructed by someone with more money than god."

"You miss it." He could see it in her eyes and he couldn't blame her. She also had a damn good point about the island.

"Yeah," she admitted. "More than anything I miss the mountains."

"We have mountains here in Georgia."

"Daryl honey, the Appalachians aren't mountains, they're hills."

He laughed. "I guess they _are_ a little smaller than you're used to."

She sighed. "Well, if the group ever wants to leave Georgia, I think Montana would be a pretty good bet. Besides," she added. "There were more people in Atlanta alone than there were in the whole state of Montana. We would have significantly fewer walkers to deal with."

After a moment with a faraway look in her eyes, she turned back to him, looking mischievous. "Care to cheer me up?"

"I could think of a few ways."

They kept quiet out of respect for the people sleeping in the tents surrounding them, but that didn't make it any less satisfying. "Damn, Griz," she whispered with a laugh. "You are good."

"Ain't so bad yerself." They lay quietly together for a moment before Daryl decided to bring up serious topics again. "I found some signs of Sophia today."

She quickly turned to him. "Really?"

"Yeah. Somebody was holed up in this farm house not too long ago and from the looks of things there, they would have to have been pretty small. Nobody taller than you could have fit in the place that person was sleeping in. Can't think of anyone it could be 'sides her."

"We'll both go looking in that area tomorrow, then. I hope she's okay."

"Don't tell me I'm going to have to tell the itchy ass story again," he moaned.

"Itchy ass story?"

"Never mind, I'll tell you some other time. Did you notice anything off about Shane today?" he asked.

She nodded. "I didn't really know what to make of it. To be honest, I wasn't really paying a whole lot of attention to him."

"You gotta keep quiet 'bout this," he warned.

"What, do you think I'm going to end up gossiping with everyone over tea?"

"You talk with Glenn and Dale, but this has to stay quiet for now." She nodded, seeing how serious he was. "Something tells me Otis didn't have much of a choice to sacrifice himself for Carl and Shane. Shane brought both of their guns back."

She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I definitely won't say anything because for the time being, I can't completely demonize him for the decision. Whatever people want to say about Shane, he _loves_ that kid and what he did saved Carl's life."

"Thas true, but I'm not so sure that self-preservation had nothing to do with it."

"Well, I don't think we'll ever know whether his reasons were one or the other or some mixture of both. But regardless of his reason, he _did_ save Carl's life and I can't condemn him for that, no matter how much he rubs me the wrong way."

"I'm not sayin' ya should. I'm just sayin' ta keep yer eye on him and not trust him too much."

* * *

The next morning Kit took a moment to visit Bernie in the house; he was snuggled up to Carl, just as she had said he would – also hogging the bed just as she said he did. Carl didn't seem to mind having him for company, though, so she let him stay there.

Kit was as eager as anyone to continue the search but Herschel approached her with a favor before she could leave the house. "Jimmy was supposed to care for the animals today, but I can't seem to find him anywhere. You seem decent enough, so would you mind taking over for the day?"

"Not at all," she replied, though she hadn't expected to be approached.

He led her to the horse stables then looked alarmed, as though something was missing. "Would any of your people have taken a horse?"

She remembered Daryl mentioning a horse before she had gone to the house and sighed irritably. "Yes. I suppose I shouldn't have assumed he would ask before he took it. Daryl isn't the type to ask."

"He better start becoming the type. This is my land and I can't have my horses disappearing without anyone telling me. Besides, he took the nervous one – she'll probably throw him. Rick is going to have to do something about him."

"I'll talk to him, too," she promised. "Daryl will probably take it better coming from me anyway. I'm sorry he took her and I'll ensure it doesn't happen again."

Herschel narrowed his eyes and let her know what needed to be done in the stables before leaving her to work. She knew Daryl could fend for himself in the woods, but she couldn't help but worry what could happen if he was thrown from the horse. The results certainly wouldn't be good.

When she was finished, it was around noon so there wouldn't be any point in heading out. Besides, she was hungry and wanted to rest a few minutes after working in the stables. She leaned against a tree to eat one of the granola bars she had snatched at the traffic pileup on the highway and unintentionally heard bits and pieces of Rick's conversation with Lori about whether or not they were 'too soft' and needed to start looking at their situation as if it was an equation. Needless to say, this didn't warm her feelings towards Shane. All she knew was that she and Daryl were not leaving until they knew what had happened to Sophia.

She was about to look around for something to do when someone wrenched her in their direction. Glenn gave her a panicked look. "Kit, there's this situation that I'm not supposed to be talking about, but people should know about it but it's another person's private business and –"

"Glenn!" she interrupted. "Calm down. Let's get something to drink and find a quiet place to talk this through."

"Okay." He nodded like a kid who didn't know what to do. "Okay."

They found a nice, shaded area well away from all the others where they could talk. "So you're not supposed to tell anyone about this?" she asked.

"No."

"And it's their private business?" He nodded. "So why exactly do you think other people should know?"

"Well I think there are certain people who deserve to know and certain things that need to be done about this person's situation."

"Glenn, you're really not giving me much to work off of." Glenn looked so torn apart over the situation that she supposed he may have to break his word for his own sanity. "I can't give you any advice about this unless you tell me what's going on. If you tell me then I promise not to breathe a word to anyone unless I think it is absolutely necessary."

He pulled a conflicted face before finally beginning. "So you're a girl, right?"

She laughed. "Unless I am very much mistaken."

"So you would understand girl things."

"I imagine so." She got a huge grin on her face. "Is this about you and Maggie? I may not be very good at giving girl advice but I can tell you right now: she is a catch!"

He looked down in misery. "I need help there, too, but this isn't about her. What should I do if I knew someone was pregnant?"

Kit sighed, realizing how complicated the situation could get. "Lori." He nodded. "I'm assuming she hasn't told anyone but you yet." He nodded. "Keep it that way," she said firmly.

"So wait, you think she's doing the right thing. You know, as a woman?"

"Look, Glenn. I'm not saying I necessarily agree with anything Lori is doing, but I can completely understand why she's doing it."

"That makes one of us," he moaned.

"She would probably react better to a woman talking with her to be quite honest, Glenn. But if you don't want her to know that you told me, I won't breathe a word."

"She probably plans to tell Rick, right?" he asked desperately.

"I don't know what she plans to do, but keep me posted if it makes you feel better to talk about it. But, from a woman's perspective, everything she is doing makes sense given her situation. That is, apart from getting you into the tangled mess – she had no right to do that. But everything else makes sense."

* * *

Daryl lay in the river listening to the insults Merle was throwing at him. "You his bitch now?" he asked, referring to Rick.

"I ain't nobody's bitch," Daryl growled.

"Yer playing errand boy to a bunch of pansies, niggers and democrats," Merle taunted. "You're nothing but a freak to them – Petite, too!"

"Not Kit."

"Ha, you think that bitch cares about you?" Merle asked. "Nah, she saw an opportunity and she took it. Yer nothin' but someone ta protect her and give her a good fuck. They all laughin' at you behind yer back because you ain't nothing but redneck white trash to them. She's just goin' ta scrape ya off her shoe, just like the rest of them. They ain't yer kin…yer blood – her least of all! Ain't nobody ever goin' to care 'bout you 'cept me little brother. Now get up before I have to kick yer teeth in."

Daryl woke to see a walker chewing on his boot and after his struggle with the undead, he sat for just a moment and wondered if what Merle had said about Kit was true. Probably was.

Much to his displeasure, Merle appeared again at the top of the hill, only to taunt him again. "I just don't think yer man enough to do it!"

Hell he was man enough. Nobody else was looking out for him – that was for sure. It wasn't as if Kit had moved mountains for him. Daryl meant protection from walkers, a meal ticket and sex; that was all he could imagine her seeing in him.

* * *

Glenn saw Kit pacing around camp, trying in vain to find something to do. "What's wrong," he asked.

"Daryl isn't back yet and it's almost dark."

"You know Daryl," Glenn assured her. "He's the last person I'd worry about in the woods alone."

"I wouldn't worry, either," she said replied. "Except he was stupid enough to take a horse without asking this morning and the horse he took has a habit of throwing people. If he isn't back by dark, I'm looking for him. I don't give a damn if anyone helps me, either."

"Walker!" They all turned to Andrea on top of the Winnebago.

"Just the one?" Rick asked.

As Shane and T-Dog went after it, with a panicked Rick hot on their tails, Kit figured there should be at least one other level-headed person there to help Rick, so she ran after them, too. Before too long, the figure approaching them began to look less like a walker. In fact, it was beginning to look like Daryl.

Rick still had his gun pointed at Daryl, as Kit ran over to try and look him up and down, only to be shoved away. "That's the third time you've pointed that gun at my head. Are you going to pull the trigger or what?"

Kit was about to ask Daryl what the hell happened when something hit him and he dropped to the ground. She heard the bullet pass right above her head and froze to try and process what had just happened.

Rick started screaming "No!" to whoever had shot Daryl and Kit ran over to him, hoping she could maintain some semblance of control so she wouldn't begin to panic. Even so, she couldn't help but scream Daryl's name as she cupped his face in her hands, hoping he would live.

**A/N: Let me know what you think. I'm especially curious to see if you all like Daryl's nickname.**


	7. Chapter 7

Her tears were flowing freely as she took off the oversized button-up shirt she had been wearing and pressed it against the side of Daryl's head to try and prevent any more blood loss – glad she had been wearing a tank top under the shirt. He looked as if he had been dragged through the forest by his feet and she noticed that he had patched himself up with some sort of make-shift bandage – for what type of injury, she didn't know. She continued to hold it there even after Rick and T-Dog had lifted him up. Andrea ran up and the icy glare that Kit sent her way would have been enough to stop a charging animal in its tracks. "What the fuck were you thinking?" she asked her, but she didn't get an answer in the ensuing chaos.

"Did I kill him?"

"You just grazed him," Rick said. "He's unconscious."

"What the hell happened to him?" Glenn asked. "He's wearing ears."

Kit and Rick made eye contact. He was looking at her as if she could provide him with an explanation for the ears. When she shrugged, he tugged the necklace off of Daryl and muttered, "Let's just keep that to ourselves."

* * *

Her leg was bouncing up and down nervously as she watched Herschel patch Daryl up. He seemed like he'd be fine though – a grizzly bear indeed. When Rick and Shane were leaving the room, Kit was going to stay but Daryl growled, "You best go with them." Her face fell.

She didn't understand why he didn't want her there, but she obliged. When she left the room she was not in the mood for Shane's shit. "I hate to say it but Herschel is right. We can't keep going out there looking for that girl."

"Daryl just risked his life looking for her," Rick answered. It looked like Kit wasn't the only one who wasn't in the mood to put up with Shane.

"He nearly died for a doll."

"We're not giving up the search for Sophia," Kit said in a hard voice. "The whole point in having a group like this is knowing that there are other people who have your back. We stay until we find her. If you have a problem with that, Shane, then you can take it up with me. What happened to Daryl today will look like a stroll through the park after I'm done."

"Those are big words for such a small girl," Shane said, approaching her threateningly. "Do you have anything to back them up with?"

Before matters could escalate, Rick separated them and Kit left them so she could blow off some steam. As she stormed out of the house, she ran into Andrea on the porch. "How is he?"

Kit took a deep breath, trying not to lash out in a manner that Daryl would be proud of. "He's fine." It was very clear in her voice that she was having difficulty containing her anger at Andrea.

"Kit –" Andrea began.

Kit held up her hand. "Please, Andrea, just save it for the time being. I am not feeling level headed enough to be having this conversation now and I would rather have it later when both of us are less likely to say things we'll regret."

With that, she quickly went down the stairs off the porch and over to her tent. In it she began rummaging through her bag to find what she needed. She was going on a run. She figured it was the healthiest possible way to deal with everything right now: this way she could think her way through everything that happened and try to burn off the angry adrenaline that was pumping through her like a wildfire. For some reason it was just easier to run with her heart pounding, her lungs screaming and her legs pounding against the ground. She didn't have her glasses with her, which also made it easier to think, forcing her to concentrate on what was inside her head. It would mean missing dinner, but she wasn't hungry anyway.

Her patience with Shane was waning, but what else was new? He was pissed off that Lori dumped him and was choosing to take it out on everyone else. Daryl had been right when he said that Shane was someone they needed to keep an eye on. Kit was beginning to think he may eventually become dangerous. As much as he pissed her off, though, she could handle him. She had lost her cool after the stress of watching Daryl get shot, but tomorrow she would be more collected and not lose her senses.

She knew Andrea hadn't meant to shoot Daryl but what she had done was so incredibly stupid and reckless that Kit was starting to think that Andrea may become a danger eventually as well. Nobody who felt that they had something to prove should be holding a gun - that was sure. She would forgive Andrea for her itchy trigger finger eventually and she wasn't going to throw any sort of fit tomorrow, but she would express her concerns over Andrea toting a gun around both to Rick and to Andrea.

As she continued to make her circle around the farm, there was only one part of the day that Kit was having difficulty processing. It had been so incredibly hard to see Daryl half dead after being shot, but what had been harder was the fact that he didn't seem to want her around. She hoped that it was temporary and that he had just still been pissed about being shot. Whatever it was, she would have to talk to him about it eventually.

The distinct sound of a walker pierced the air. Shit! She didn't have a weapon she didn't have her glasses so she wouldn't be able to see the thing unless it got close. She was a good distance from the house and she was going to keep the walker away from the house, too. "Hey!" she shouted as she continued turning around in the field she stood in. Soon, she began to just barely make out a blurry, stumbling figure making its way towards her. She slowly made her way to the edge of the property, keeping her eyes trained on it the entire distance. When she was standing just on the edge of the woods, she allowed it to catch up to her.

Once it was close enough, she swung her hand and let her fist make contact with its face. When she heard the smacking sound, she thought to herself 'that one was for Shane'. The walker kept going, naturally, so she hit it again. That one was for Andrea. Kit knew that she had to kill the damn thing now, before things got out of hand, so she circled around it and kicked the back of its knees to send it to the ground. After that it was just a matter of a few well-placed stomps to end matters. Kit didn't want to admit it, but she had needed that.

She returned to camp covered in blood, stinking of sweat and walker, which didn't escape Rick's notice. "What the hell happened?"

"Walker," she replied simply.

"Herschel wants to take care of walkers," he reminded her.

"Well I wasn't about to go running back to the house and lead it here." Her voice was terse. "As much as I hate to say it, I'm glad I ran into the damn thing because I needed to throw a few good punches."

"It was reckless. Look, I need to know that you are going to keep under control while we're here."

She put her hands on her hips and snorted. "I am fine, Rick. You just keep Shane under control. What happened with me today was the result of seeing Daryl shot. As far as the walker is concerned, I dragged it back into the woods and hid it under some fallen branches so none of Herschel's people will know what happened. Better I take things out on the walker than on someone here, as far as I'm concerned. And if you want to discuss reckless, then let's discuss Andrea, why don't we?" She was on a roll so she may as well continue. "I don't think it's too much to ask that she not be allowed to carry a gun for now. She clearly is a little too trigger happy for the safety of others."

"I'll make that call. Just make sure there aren't any incidents involving you lashing out at someone in the camp."

She returned to her tent and removed the bloody clothes, cleaning herself off enough so no one would be any wiser of what had happened. After she was clean she headed back to the house to talk to Daryl.

* * *

She stepped into the house feeling a lot better than when she had stepped out of it. "You weren't at dinner." Herschel had entered.

"Sorry, I hope you don't mind."

"No need to apologize." He seemed like he meant it, so Kit smiled. "Where've you been? You look as if you just ran a marathon."

"Pretty close," she laughed. "I was just taking a run around the farm – energy that needed to be spent."

"He's fine, you know."

She dropped her eyes. "I know, but the fact is that he didn't need to end up the way he did."

"Are you referring to the fact that he took my horse or the fact that one of your own people shot him?"

"Both, and before you say anything, I've already given Rick a piece of my mind about her continuing to carry. He didn't seem too concerned about it, though, so I imagine Shane will be giving her a shooting lesson before too long. That way, the next time she shoots before she thinks, she won't miss."

"Your run didn't take care of everything," he concluded. "I may have a talk with Rick, but for the time being, I think it will do you a lot of good to go and visit the man who took my horse."

"Thank you." Herschel was, more than anything, very fair with them and Kit felt enormous appreciation for him – especially given all the shit he had to put up with now.

She traveled up the stairs and knocked gently on the doorway into Daryl's room. "Hey, Griz." She hoped he'd be a little more open to her presence now.

"What do you want?" he mumbled.

She pulled a confused look. "To see you, of course. Why the hell else would I come here? I even brought you a couple things." He glanced up as she placed a couple books on the table next to the bed only to turn away again. "What happened, Daryl?" she asked desperately. "When you woke up in here you looked at me as if I had just kicked you in the balls. Is it because I agree with Herschel on the horse?" That would be a stupid reason to be upset with her but she couldn't think of any other reason. They hadn't even seen each other that day.

"Ain't got nothin' to do with that."

"Well, I can't do anything unless you talk to me. I understand if you don't want to share with everyone else but Jesus, we sleep together."

"We do," he muttered.

"Please talk to me," she begged.

"Don't know why you want to talk to me. I'm not good for much else 'sides protection and sex."

"That is the stupidest thing I think you've ever said. Is that what you think I'm with you for?" She couldn't believe it. They had spent so much time getting to know each other and they had become so close – where in the hell did this come from?

"You tell me."

"It would be stupid for me to become attached to someone just for protection, given that I don't need it. And if all I wanted was someone to fuck, then there were a lot of other options to pick from at the quarry. Could you please tell me where this is coming from? Because I honestly have no idea why you would think I'm with you for protection and good sex and I certainly never meant to give you that impression, if I ever did."

Daryl sat up to look at Kit and it was like coming out of a fog. He had never heard her say anything she didn't mean to someone else, which was part of the reason she didn't speak often – she chose her words carefully. What Merle had said on the hill didn't make sense, at least as far as Kit was concerned. "I saw Merle after the horse threw me," he admitted.

"What?"

"It wasn't real and I know it, but he said a lot of things and some of them made sense."

"Such as?"

"He told me I don't belong here in this group, which is true. He also told me there could be no other possible reason for you to be with me other than protection or the fucking."

She pulled an amused face. "Even if Merle had actually been standing in the flesh, I think you know better than anyone that the advice he dishes out isn't always advice to heed." She tentatively held his hand. "God, I was afraid I had done something," she breathed. "Please don't ever assume something like that again unless you actually hear it coming from me. You also belong in this group."

"I'm sorry."

She looked down, embarrassed. "You just spent an entire day wandering around in the Georgian heat with an arrow stuck in your side and then you were shot. I think anyone would be a little disoriented after that. You scared the shit out of me." She leaned in and kissed him. "I'm with you for the same reason you're lying in this bed right now: because you're the type of man who won't give up on a little girl and will do everything in his power to find her. What you have done the past few days has been so incredibly admirable and neither Shane nor Rick can claim that they have done as much for Sophia. I'm proud to be with you, Daryl, because you are a good man." She smirked. "The sex is a nice benefit, though."

He was about to lean out of the bed to kiss her when he noticed her hands. They didn't look very good after her skirmish with the walker earlier that night. "What happened to you?"

"I had to blow off some steam. Needless to say I wasn't very happy with Andrea earlier and Shane continues to piss me off, so I had to do something to ensure they wouldn't be on the receiving end."

"Damn. I thought I was the one with the temper, here. I didn't know you was even capable of one."

"Well, in the case of Shane he is one of the few people who have proven themselves to be a very special exception. Andrea was just stupid as fuck, but I'll forgive her eventually. At least this way she won't have any bruises on her pretty face."

Herschel stepped into the room. "I think it best if he has the room to himself tonight. He'll heal better."

She obliged and started to head out of the house. "You're like those goats," Herschel remarked.

"Goats?"

"Racing stables would pair the high strung horses with goats that keep them calm. You have that kind of effect on him." He looked in the direction of the camp as Kit headed out the door. "If you ask me, I think your group needs a few more goats for their racing horses. Just something I've noticed."

* * *

Daryl watched as Andrea awkwardly walked into his tent and handed him a book. "No pictures?" he joked.

"I'm sorry, I feel like shit."

"You and me both," he grunted. "You were protecting the crew. I get it."

"Do I dare ask about Kit?"

At this he decided to laugh openly. "Nah, Kit will forgive ya. It's a good thing she didn't talk to you last night because she sure as hell took her anger out on something. But she's probably okay to talk to now. Just don't expect her to be especially friendly. To give you a fair warning, she probably won't yell but tha don't mean you won't feel like shit." Andrea nodded and began to head out of the tent when he left her with one final joke to show he wasn't going to hold a grudge. "Shoot me again and you best pray I'm dead."

Meanwhile, Glenn was having a much more frustrating morning. Lori didn't appear interested in anything he was saying. "I'm a terrible liar. I've already…never mind."

"Never mind what, Glenn? You told someone! Who?" she demanded.

"It was just Kit," he assured her. "And she swore she wouldn't say anything, so you don't have to worry. You know, she might be a good person to talk to since you're both, uh, women."

Lori glanced at the much shorter woman who looked as if she was going to help with the shooting practice and the two made eye contact. Lori was beginning to think that Glenn was right and talking to someone else might be a good idea. "I'm not sure…"

"Kit is really good to talk to. She doesn't get riled up or anything and she can be pretty empathetic."

They heard the conversation between Kit and Shane. "Actually, I think I'm going to continue the search today for Sophia," she told him, glancing back at Lori. "I can handle myself. Besides, I don't think I would make a very good teacher." With that she made her way back to camp and sat alone to do some maintenance on her gun.

Glenn nodded in Kit's direction and Lori braced herself for what was bound to be an incredibly awkward conversation. Regardless of whether or not they had the heart to heart that Glenn wanted she needed to make sure that Kit wouldn't tell Rick anything. "So you and Glenn talked yesterday?"

"Yep." Kit glanced up at Lori. "If there is anything you want to talk about, I'm willing to listen without judgment."

Glenn had left and it appeared for the time being that Lori and Kit were alone. "How much did he tell you?"

"Only that you're pregnant and you don't want him telling anyone. I'm not going to tell anyone, but if you need someone to talk to about it with, I'm here."

Lori slowly sat down. "I don't know what I want to do."

"Do you know who the father is?" Kit asked.

Lori expected a scathing look on Kit's face but saw only genuine curiosity and sympathy. "No."

"Well that makes this situation even shittier then it already was."

"You sure don't like to sugarcoat things," Lori remarked.

Kit shrugged. "I'm just being honest. I don't think Glenn quite understands how difficult the situation is," she sighed.

"And you do?" Lori was a little skeptical.

"You are pregnant with either your husband's child or his best friend's. Civilization as we once knew it has completely disintegrated and the world is now a dangerous place filled with dead people who want to kill you which could potentially make for a very traumatic childhood. We probably won't be able to stay in one place for very long which means there is not stability. There is also the fact that childbirth is now far more dangerous than it was because there aren't nice, clean hospitals that can help if something goes wrong. Did I miss anything?"

"No, that about sums it up." Lori pressed her hands against her face. "I don't know if I want to go through with this."

"It's terrifying to even think about and I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is for you. I certainly don't know what I would do. There is one thing you don't have to worry about, though. If you decide to have this baby, you will have the support from every member of this group – without question. I can't speak for the others as far as the other option is concerned, but you would have my full support for that route too, if that's what you choose. Either way, I'm here for you if you need it. I still think you should talk to Rick first, but Glenn's already nagged you enough about that, so you won't hear it from me again."

Lori could scarcely believe that she and Kit were actually having a conversation, nevertheless one so personal as the one they were having now, but Glenn was right: Kit was nice to talk to. "Thank you. It's nice to talk to someone who understands."

"Us girls have to stick together," Kit reminded her.


	8. Chapter 8

Dinner that night was tense to say the least. Kit could see that a lot had happened with Lori since they had spoken that morning, but given the glances she and Rick kept giving each other, it looked as though she had finally told him. Andrea kept glancing at Kit and once dinner was over and Kit as was helping to clean up, Andrea finally approached her.

"Are you ready to talk?" It wasn't demanding – Andrea truly wanted to know.

"Yes. I've cooled down considerably since last night."

"You have to know that I would never want to shoot Daryl." Andrea meant it, which Kit had known from the moment that Daryl had been shot.

"I know, Andrea. I just didn't want to have this conversation the night that it happened. I'm not angry with you because you made a mistake, but to be quite honest I'm not incredibly happy that you're still carrying. You were so eager to show you knew how to use it that you didn't think before you pulled the trigger. I've brought up these concerns with Rick and he has chosen to ignore them, but I thought you ought to know how I felt as far as that was concerned. I do still forgive you for what happened," she told the other woman.

"Thank you and you know that I'm sorry I put you through that."

"I do, just don't expect me to be thrilled that you're allowed to carry."

Kit had only just finished her conversation with Andrea when she was approached by Maggie. "Thought you might need a refill on these." She handed Kit what had to be at least a year's worth of birth control.

Kit chose to be nonchalant about it. "Thanks."

Maggie opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the right words to say. "So you're with that older guy?"

"Daryl isn't old," Kit scoffed. "It's not like he's seventy and hobbling around on a cane."

"Yeah, but he's a lot older than you. Aren't you younger than me?"

Kit nodded. "Daryl's about fifteen years older than I am but I figured 'what the hell?' It's the end of the world and I don't think that social taboos matter as much anymore."

"Isn't it weird? I mean, not just the fact that he's older than you, but trying to have a relationship with all this going on."

"It isn't easy, but we manage. Actually, having each other helps us try to make sense of all the chaos. I have no regrets, though privacy isn't much of an option. We had been together about a day before everyone else figured it out."

Maggie laughed. "No secrets when you're all living right on top of each other. I guess I just want to know if it's worth it to have a relationship after the world has ended."

Kit smiled. "It is and I can't think of anyone better for you to have a relationship with than Glenn. He's an incredible guy – this coming from someone who has been friends with him since almost the beginning of all this shit. Please don't let him go."

Once her conversation with Maggie was over, Kit was about to go to bed when Lori pulled her aside. It seemed as if the women of the farm had all conspired to prevent Kit from sleeping that night. "You said it was okay to talk to you?" she asked quietly. Kit nodded. "I told Rick and it looks like I'm going through with this."

Kit pulled Lori into a hug. It just felt right. "If you want this, then we'll make it work. I promise."

"I'm terrified."

"I know and I'm so sorry that you have to be. Whatever you need, I'll help you get it. I'll even take Shane one-on-one if you need me to – rough him up a little."

Lori laughed. "Would that be for me or for you?"

"Well, is it so wrong that it could be a mixture of both?"

"Thank you."

"With the men running around like morons, I think we need a little feminine solidarity here."

Crawling onto the sleeping pads with Daryl beside her felt so good considering how awful the past couple days had been. "It's nice not to have that damn cat trying to sleep with me, purring like it could get me to like it." When he didn't get a response, he turned to Kit who was staring into space. "You look like you've been through hell, Dex."

"You have no idea."

"So I'm guessin' tonight is not a night you want to bang?" he asked jokingly.

Apart from being exhausted Kit also thought about Lori's situation: being pregnant. That idea was more than enough to turn her off the idea of sex for a night. "Not really. Besides, you were just stabbed with an arrow. It's probably a good idea for you to take it easy for at least a little while longer.

"Alright," he replied, not needing to know more. "Did ya talk ta Andrea?"

"Yeah and we'll be fine." She kissed him before burrowing under the blankets.

* * *

It was eggs for breakfast the following morning, which didn't exactly excite Kit – she had never particularly cared for them. But, at least the morning was peaceful while she and Daryl ate off of the same plate.

Carl turned to Kit with an excited look on his face. "I finished your book."

She turned to him, shocked. She had assumed that sometime between the quarry and now that the book had been lost. Then it occurred to her that it had only been about a week since she had loaned Carl the book – it seemed like longer. "How'd you like it," she asked, a rare smile blooming on her face. "Are you now as captivated by Tolkien as I am?"

"I really liked it," he said, bobbing his head up and down. "I never would have thought of all the weird stuff that they had to fight!"

Unfortunately, Glenn chose that moment to stand up and announce something that was a little jarring. "Guys, the barn is full of walkers."

Kit's heart skipped a beat after hearing that and she immediately turned to Daryl, hoping that she had heard wrong. The agitation in his eyes told her that she had, in fact heard Glenn correctly.

Within minutes the entire group stood by the barn as Shane investigated. "You cannot be alright with this, man!"

"No I'm not but this is Herschel's land!"

Kit looked closely at the barn and it seemed secure. Obviously none of the walkers had escaped while they had been there which calmed Kit down a little bit. This was not an emergency situation, though it was a situation that put her on edge. At the mention of Ford Benning Kit rolled her eyes. "And what exactly do you expect to find at Fort Benning? Another CDC? Because that is probably what you're going to get."

"We can't leave," Rick stated firmly.

"Why not?" Shane retorted, glaring at Kit.

"Because my daughter's out there," Carol said.

There was no way in hell Kit was going to leave that farm until they found Sophia, whether she was dead or alive, and when Shane even hinted that they should leave without knowing, she felt her blood begin to boil. Daryl, on the other hand, had a much more difficult time controlling his temper. "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll a few days ago!" Kit situated herself closer to Daryl, anticipating things to escalate, as they normally did when Shane was involved.

"That's right, Daryl, you found her doll," Shane mocked. "If you don't find a good lead in the first forty-eight hours – "

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Kit placed her arm on Daryl, trying to keep him calm, which she managed to do before Shane had to make things even worse.

"Let me tell you something else. If she had seen you out there all methed out, your buck knife and geek ears around your neck she would have run in the other direction."

At this, Daryl pounced and Kit had to place herself between him and Shane in order to prevent Daryl from outright attacking the taller man. That wasn't to say that she wasn't equally pissed, if not more pissed, at Shane. "You went too far, Welsh," she growled as she held Daryl back.

"I have to talk to Herschel," Rick insisted. "It's his land and if we're going to clear this barn then I'm going to have to convince him."

Dale finally intervened and Kit desperately hoped he could calm the situation. She hated the chaos that ensued when the hotheads began to argue. "Herschel sees those things as people – sick people. His wife and his stepson are in there."

"You waited until today to tell us?" Shane yelled.

"I thought we could last another night. We did!"

At this, Kit sighed and headed back to camp. Rick wasn't going to be rash, so she was no longer interested in the affair with the barn. All she wanted to do was head into the woods and look for Sophia. She pulled out the map and looked at the areas that had already been searched and figured that without other people to help her, she may need a horse in order to cover more ground.

She grabbed her rifle from the RV and was about to head back into the house when Carol entered the camp, looking as if she had been slapped across the face. "Carol, what's wrong?" she asked. "If it's because of what Shane said, then ignore him. We are going to stay here until we find Sophia. Also, just ignore anything he says anyway."

Carol smiled appreciatively. "It's not Shane, it's Daryl. He became very upset when I suggested that Sophia may be gone. I told him I didn't want him riding and looking for her because I didn't want to lose him, too."

Now Kit felt as if she had been slapped across the face. "He was going to go _riding_? He was nearly killed just a few days ago – he can't go riding! You stopped him, right?" she asked desperately and Carol nodded which elicited a bone-crushing hug from Kit. "Thank you," she whispered. "I can't lose him, either." After she pulled away, she noticed how shaken Carol was. "I'm also sorry for whatever Daryl said because I'm sure he didn't mean it. You know how important it is for him to find Sophia."

Carol nodded. "I understand. It hurt, but I understand."

"You have no idea how much this means to me. Look, I'm going out right now to look for Sophia because no matter what has happened, we _are _going to find her, though I make no other promises. Thank you, though, for caring about Daryl. He needs to know that he has a place here – that he's important."

Carol nodded and Kit headed towards the house with her rifle. Once she entered, Herschel looked very alarmed. "What have I told you people about guns?" he asked angrily.

"I'm not here to shoot anyone," Kit said soothingly. "I just wanted to ask if I could borrow a horse and if you could help me saddle one up. I just want to find that little girl."

He appeared surprised. "I had assumed you'd be here about the people in the barn and you were storming the house to threaten us."

"Never," Kit told him firmly.

"Come with me and I'll saddle you up with a nice easygoing horse that won't throw you," he said with a smile. As they headed towards the stables, Herschel asked a question that surprised Kit. "Actually, I'd like to know your opinion on the people in the barn."

Kit could hardly believe it. He had talked to Rick already and Rick was their spokesman. "Why would you want my opinion?"

"You are one of the few members of the group who I have had contact with that actually seems to be level-headed. Knowing this, I would like to know what you think about the barn."

She thought her answer over carefully as Herschel saddled her horse. She wanted to be honest with him without angering him. "Right now I see no need to storm the barn with guns blazing. The barn is secure and what's in it poses no immediate threat to us. I understand that you don't want any harm to them and I can live with that. I may want a few more precautions taken with the barn just in case something happens, but I would be willing to leave them be."

"I appreciate that," he said earnestly.

"I realize that you see them as people," she added, hoping not to offend Herschel. "I know that you're waiting for a cure that will bring them back. We spent some time in the CDC and the doctor running it said that once the disease takes over and their hearts stop, only a small portion of the brain comes back and it isn't the part of the brain that makes them your loved ones. Assuming that a cure was even an option, I don't think that it's going to come for a long time considering how hard the world has been hit. If we were to work under the assumption that your loved ones are still alive, I would think that they're in a lot of pain right now because of what has been done to their bodies. I personally would not want my loved ones to live in that pain, nor did I let them live in that pain."

She climbed onto the horse and gave Herschel a look of genuine sympathy. "Regardless, I'm willing to live here even with the sick people in the barn. Whatever you choose is what I will abide by."

With that said, she rode the horse into the woods, rifle in hand.

* * *

As Shane was handing out guns and making speeches, Daryl hardly paid attention to a word he said. He did _not _like that cop and he knew that Kit had similar feelings. He had also figured out that Kit wasn't especially concerned about the walkers in the barn. After the initial shock, she had walked away from the barn as if it was no big deal that so many walkers had been right under their noses.

He knew that Kit could protect herself. Hell, she went into the woods alone almost every day to look for Sophia. Despite that, all he had thought about when Glenn had told them about the walkers was Kit being killed by one of those things. It was irrational – Kit was tough. But nevertheless he did not want Kit anywhere near a barn full of walkers.

So he held the gun that Shane had given him, ready to shoot the damn things, especially when Rick and Herschel returned with two more. He almost felt bad for the old man when Shane was shooting and shouting "Could a living person walk away from that?" It seemed Herschel was finally getting his reality check.

Kit heard the shots from the woods as she was making her way back to the farm. She had no doubts that for one reason or another, the barn had been opened. Urging the horse to go faster, it practically sprinted back to the farm and she returned in time to see the final walkers coming out of the barn fall. Everyone was in a state of shock as she tried to figure out what the hell had happened.

She could scarcely imagine the pain that Herschel was experiencing when she saw one more walker emerge from the barn: Sophia. A sob burst from her throat, seeing the little girl she had been looking for only minutes ago. Daryl held Carol back before Rick finally pulled the trigger.

* * *

After the Green family had stormed back to the house, he noticed Kit climb down from the horse, nearly falling in the process, shaken by the scene she had just witnessed. Daryl followed her to the stables where she carefully returned the horse. "Kit…"She looked up and he could see the pain bubbling up inside her, just as it did in him. He pulled her into his arms and heard her give a few stifled sobs.

"She was just a little girl, Daryl."

"I know."

Before long they knew that they had to go and clean up the mess that Shane had made. Kit opted to begin digging graves, starting with Sophia's. Daryl, meanwhile, went to go console Carol.

Daryl appeared very unhappy as he emerged from the Winnebago when they eventually had the service. Carol wasn't with him, so it didn't take a genius to figure out why he was so angry. Kit grabbed his hand, which seemed to calm him down enough that he could talk. "It's her own daughter's funeral."

"Everyone grieves differently. There is no right or wrong way so long as it helps them to heal."


	9. Chapter 9

After the funeral, Daryl stormed towards the tent that he and Kit shared as she tried to keep up. Unfortunately, having short legs was definitely a disadvantage in this instance and she didn't catch up to the hunter until he had reached their tent and began packing their things up. That couldn't be good. She approached him carefully, placing a gentle hand on his arm which caused him to flinch. "Daryl, I know this is hard…but are you going to be okay?"

"Jus' leave me alone, woman," he barked.

Kit had known Daryl long enough to know that the anger in his words wasn't directed at her. "Please don't push me away," she begged.

Daryl turned to Kit, about to yell at her again, but at the sight of her face, the rage and hurt that he felt began to melt away – or at least she took the edge off. He sighed and walked up to her, pulling her into a tight embrace in an attempt to maybe suck some of the calmness out of her. "I jus' need some space," he explained. "It don't mean nothin' 'cept that I need ta calm down."

She looked up at him and the swirling pools of mercury in her eyes showed an understanding that left Daryl feeling relieved. "Am I still sleeping with you tonight?"

"'Course," he insisted. "Wouldn't even think 'bout a night without yer little body up 'gainst mine. I'm movin' our stuff a ways away from the others – need some distance. That okay?"

Kit nodded, the worry that she had felt fading a little. "Alright, I'll give you some space, but can you do me a favor?"

"Anythin'."

"Back at the quarry you told me to start speaking up, that my opinion should matter. The same goes for you. Daryl, you are twice the man Shane will ever be, yet his voice is always the one that's heard because he doesn't shut up. Everyone may not see it yet, but there are a lot of people in the group who want to hear what you have to say. You matter, your opinion matters. Please."

He nodded, indicating he would think about what she said.

Feeling much better, she jogged to the house to check on the Greene family. Herschel had to be devastated and Kit had become fond of the older man so if she could do anything to make his loss any easier, she would do it. When she got to the house, though, things were much worse than she had expected. Beth was in a catatonic state and Herschel was missing. Rick was just about to leave to find him when he ran into Kit. "Kit, you've talked to Herschel a couple of times, haven't you? He seemed ta like you so why don't ya come with me and Glenn?"

Kit was more tempted than she would admit and she nearly accepted the offer right away. Then she remembered that with Rick and Glenn gone there wouldn't be many level-headed people left on the farm – even less who could shoot a gun. All Kit could imagine was Shane making another mess like with the barn, except this time he would have no one to stand in his way. She couldn't let that happen. "I think I'll stay here," she said apologetically. "Things are a little tense and we don't want to have any more trouble." She could see that Rick understood what she meant.

"Alright. You keep things calm here 'till we get back."

"Will do."

She walked out of the house with Dale and Lori and she was about the check the perimeter of the farm when she heard Dale mention something very interesting. "I think Shane is dangerous."

"Yeah, I know, he's a hothead," Lori admitted.

"No. I think he killed Otis."

"Don't tell me you're only just figuring this out." Kit turned to Lori and Dale, seeing that this was apparently pretty new information to them. "Daryl and I had it figured out the night he got back," she informed them. "Honestly, it didn't concern me that much because he did that to save Carl's life. I'm far more concerned about his complete disregard for the other people on this farm, including those in our group. Moreover, he doesn't think about the potential consequences of his actions. Damn right he's dangerous," she muttered.

"So you knew?" Dale asked with disbelief.

"He came back with Otis's gun. I don't think Otis would have sacrificed himself to the walkers without at least having his gun." Both Dale and Lori looked at her in shock. "Shane's changed and we need to figure out how we're going to address that."

Kit left them to think that over because she needed to do that perimeter check, but she knew that if Shane wasn't reigned in, then sooner or later it would come back to _really _bite them in the ass. Knowing Shane, he could probably make the Otis incident and the barn incident look like picnics in comparison to the next disaster he orchestrated.

After she returned, she was surprised to run into Lori and even more surprised to see a look of distress on Lori's face. "What's up?"

"I just asked Daryl to run into town to look for Herschel. We need him, Kit. Beth has a fever and I don't know if we can wait much longer."

"Let me guess: Daryl more or less told you to go to hell?" Lori nodded in response. "Daryl needs some time to himself today so he's not really in the mood for doing anything. I can go into town, though. Would you be willing to come with me?" Kit didn't want to go because she wanted to keep an eye on Shane but there weren't really any other options. The Greene's and their housemates weren't about to leave. Carol was a mess. Shane was not an option. Daryl wouldn't go and Dale wasn't good at killing walkers. She didn't know where T-Dog or Andrea were because they were taking care of the walker bodies.

"Why do you need me?" Lori asked.

"If we get into a tight spot then it'll be easier to deal with if one person drives and one person shoots. Plus, that means two pairs of eyes to look for Rick, Glenn, and Herschel."

Lori didn't look too happy about the idea of going into town as well but Kit figured that since Lori was the one who was so eager to make the trip into the town, she could damn well come along. She eventually nodded, running into the house to get a jacket and her pistol.

"Since you're driving, pick your vehicle," Kit said, gesturing to Lori's options.

They climbed into the small, gold car and began to head towards town. Conversation inevitably drifted to Lori's situation. "Shane knows, now. He thinks the baby is his."

Lori waited tensely, staring at Kit's stoic face. "Well, he isn't exactly unjustified. After all, there is a strong possibility that he's the father. My offer still stands, though. If he harasses you, then I'll beat his sorry ass."

"You seem so confident that he's going to be on the losing end," Lori said with a laugh.

"I'm small but durable," Kit informed her.

Lori couldn't believe she was going to ask Kit this question. "What would you do? If you were in my situation, I mean."

A dazed expression crossed the younger woman's face before she carefully answered. "I'm not sure if I can really answer that. I've never really been that popular with men so I've never slept with two different ones in the same month or two. You can't deny that the paternity issue makes this more complicated. There's also the fact that Daryl and I haven't been together that long – only since the CDC. You were with Shane longer than we've been together."

Lori sighed. "Okay, then. What if you found out today that you were pregnant? What would you do?"

"Well, first I would have a few small panic attacks in quick succession. I think anyone would. Then I would talk to Daryl and figure out what we want."

Lori looked down in what looked like shame. "I guess I went about things all wrong, then."

Kit rolled her eyes. "Let's keep in mind that this is just my speculation; I don't think anyone knows what they would do if they found themselves pregnant, at least anymore. Secondly, these are still two completely different situations, as I said earlier. And finally, I'm not sure if there is any right or wrong way, necessarily to hand this. Have you discussed your relationship with Shane? Had a conversation, at least?"

"No," Lori admitted. "I haven't really talked to him since Rick got back – at least not about us."

"I don't blame you for not wanting the baby to be his. But, and this is just an observation, the fact that Shane is frustrated over this is probably not helping to tone down his crazy. My only real piece of advice for you actually has nothing to do with the baby and is more of a personal request. If Rick is going to be our leader, then you have to let him be a leader, whatever that may entail."

"I don't want him to get killed." At this point, Lori was beginning to cry.

"Believe it or not, this is something that I can completely relate to. Whenever Daryl and I would go to search for Sophia by ourselves, we would worry about each other. Seeing him come back half dead is the hardest thing that I have had to face since the outbreak but you and I both have to remember that Rick and Daryl are two tough sons of bitches. You have to have confidence in Rick. I'm not saying that you shouldn't worry, because that's going to happen no matter what, but you have to let him leave sometimes."

Both women were so caught up in their conversation and Lori was completely in tears, so neither of them noticed the walker on the road until it was too late. Lori hit it, which would not have been so back all by itself. The panic she felt afterwards caused her to swerve, though, and drive into a ditch which flipped the car, knocking both women unconscious.

* * *

The first sensation that Kit felt was a wetness on her head and face but she was having a great deal of difficulty focusing enough to identify what could possibly be on her face. She also felt as if she was hanging in the air or at least something close to that as far as she could tell. She opened her eyes, rubbing the sticky liquid off of them – blood. Why would she be bleeding? More importantly, why was her vision blurry even though her glasses were on her face and intact? Then there was this _noise_ that felt as if it were thundering in her ear. She looked down to see Lori lying unconscious below her, so it wasn't Lori.

The memory of the car crash began to come back in bits and pieces as she processed the importance of killing the walker trying to chew its way through the windshield. The walker that was uncomfortably close to Kit. She began feeling around for her knife and struggled to unsheathe it. Once she did, she had trouble piercing the walker's head because her vision was still blurry and she just couldn't focus enough to get it done.

Lori woke up just in time to see Kit ram, though ram was a loose term, her knife into a walker's skull. "Lori," Kit slurred. "Something's wrong."

"You look terrible!" the older woman cried. Lori managed to undo her own seatbelt but Kit's was going to be a much bigger ordeal. Blood ran down Kit's face and Lori could see a gash on the side of her head.

"Concussion?" Kit suggested.

"I'm not a doctor! Oh, god, how are you going to get out of here?" She was crouched next to Kit's seat, trying to find a way to undo Kit's seatbelt that didn't involve Kit falling on top of her. Plus, if Kit had a concussion, she wasn't going to be much help. "Okay, I'm going to undo your seatbelt and try to untangle you from it. Try not to fall on me."

"No promises," Kit muttered.

Kit didn't fall crashing to the floor, but her landing wasn't exactly graceful either. Her limbs were not working the way she wanted them to and she was only barely aware of what was going on. Once she and Lori were standing outside the car, she couldn't even remember how they had gotten there. There was something coming up behind Lori but all Kit could do was managed a choked out yell. Lori's pistol was finally used which reminded Lori of something important.

"Kit, your rifle is still in the car." She handed Kit her pistol, though it wouldn't do her much good if she couldn't aim, as Lori retrieved Kit's gun.

When she came back, she had no idea what to do next. Kit could barely stand and it wasn't as if Lori could carry her, but they couldn't rely on someone else to rescue them so Lori hoped that Kit began to recover faster. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I feel like shit," Kit groaned. "If I had eaten today, I would be puking right now." She was managing to string together words a little better, but they were still slurred.

"We're going to walk back to the farm now if you can walk," Lori informed her. She struggled to pull the shorter woman's arm around her shoulders so Kit could lean on her. As she did so, she noticed that the side of Kit's head was still bleeding. It wasn't a heavy blood flow, but if they didn't stop the bleeding then Kit could collapse from blood loss.

Their pace was unbelievably slow as they returned to the farm. Kit was constantly stumbling, though Lori could tell she was trying her best to stay upright.

* * *

Daryl sat beside the fire he had made, allowing his mind to get lost in the flickering flames. His day alone had done him some good, helped him to work through his grief. Now he was hoping that Kit would come back to their camp so he could apologize for being an ass and thank her for understanding. She was probably at dinner with the rest of the group but he was willing to wait. He saw a figure approaching but his heart sank when it wasn't Kit, and was instead Carol.

"We can't find Lori and the others aren't back, either."

He refused to look at the older woman, but he could give her an answer. "Dumb bitch must have gone lookin' for him. She asked me ta go. Told her I was done bein' her errand boy."

"You didn't tell anyone?" Daryl could tell he was upset, which wasn't his problem, but Lori's disappearance soon became his problem. "Is Kit with you? We can't find her, either."

His blood ran cold. Had the dumb bitch asked Kit to go with her? If Kit had gone on her own, he wouldn't have been so worried – Kit could handle herself. But Lori…well the dumb bitch could have easily screwed something up. Kit would have been back by now. He stood up and began walking towards the house, hoping that nothing had happened.

He and Carol reached the house and she told them what had happened. "Lori asked Daryl to go into town and must have gone herself. Kit could be with her."

"Did you know about this?" Shane asked Dale. It was clear he was accusing the old man of slacking off.

"I didn't know anything."

"Did she take a gun?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't have let her go alone."

"Kit would have taken a gun," Daryl said. "Her knife, too. Thing is, they woulda been back by now if things had gone right." Shane wasted no time getting into his car and Daryl mentally kicked himself as he followed the bigger man. He had to know if Kit was okay, though.

Shane looked surprised at first to see the redneck in the car with him but he asked no questions as he started the engine.

It didn't take them too long to find the wreck, making Daryl's stomach twist. They both looked in the car and didn't find anyone inside, only finding two dispatched walkers. Daryl took some comfort in at least knowing they had made it out of the wreck alive, and judging by the mark on the walker inside the car, Kit had been okay after the crash, which was all he cared about at this point. His throat tightened when he saw the blood. There was a little blood that had clearly come from the person in the driver's side. The person sitting in the passenger's side had lost considerably more.

"One of them got cut up pretty bad. Don't know which one."

"I found blood here," Shane said.

Daryl's eyes followed the light of the flashlight to a trail of blood droplets leading down the road. "Look, cop, we gotta follow this trail down the road, but let's get one thing straight right now: one of those women is hurt a helluva lot worse than the other and she's gotta be the first priority when we find them. I don't care if it's Kit or if it's Lori, the one that left us this trail is the one who we help first."

Shane nodded, knowing that he and Daryl were both hoping for different outcomes when they found them. If he had the luck of Lori being the one that was okay, then he could help Kit first, even if he didn't like the bitch.

Before too long, they saw two figures in the road, one leaning on the other and clearly struggling. Both men jumped out of the car and it seemed that Shane had the luck of the draw that night because Kit was in bad shape. Shane glanced at Lori a moment and she seemed okay, so he turned his attention to Kit, shining the flashlight in her eyes. She was not reacting the way she should have been, barely noticing the light being shined in her face. What worried him even more was the deathly pale complexion she wore. "Daryl, this girl needs help _now_."

Daryl didn't need to be told twice. He gingerly picked up Kit, trying desperately not to jostle her. "What the hell happened?" he demanded as they all piled into the car and headed back to the farm at full speed.

"I got distracted and hit a walker," Lori explained. "We crashed and Kit hit her head really hard – I think she's got a concussion. She's been bleeding since the accident, barely coherent." She paused for a moment before remembering why she had taken the car in the first place. "We gotta find Rick."

Apparently Kit wasn't the only one who wasn't thinking straight after the accident. Shane quickly put her thoughts on Rick to rest. "They're all back, safe and sound. 'Sides, even if they weren't, I don't know how long Kit would have lasted with you two walking down the road like that."

Daryl couldn't believe how cold Kit was. She had always had a really warm body, surprising for a woman as short as she was. Daryl never had to worry about getting cold in their tent because she gave off heat like a furnace but now she was like ice. Still breathing, but not much better.

They got to the house and Daryl ran to the entrance as fast as he could, trying to keep the jostling to a minimum. "Kit needs help _now._ She's gotta big cut on her head, lost a lotta blood, probably has a concussion."

Daryl sat in the living room, watching Patricia sew up the large cut on Kit's head – a difficult task with her thick hair. "She gonna be okay?" he asked.

"She's lost a lot of blood which ain't good especially when paired with a concussion, plus she ain't eaten much today. If we could get a blood transfusion, then I wouldn't be too worried, but I'm willing to bet you don't know her blood type."

He and Kit had talked about a lot of things, but blood type wasn't one of them. "No, I don't."

"Let me see if you two are compatible," she suggested. I'll take a little of your blood and mix it with hers…see what happens."

Daryl waited anxiously, his chest growing tighter every time he saw the blood-soaked Kit on the couch. "If I did this right, then you two are compatible."

He turned to the blonde. "Let's do this."


	10. Chapter 10

Daryl sat on the couch with Kit lying across is lap, rubbing a damp cloth on her face in an attempt to clean the blood off. He had just given her a unit of blood, which appeared to be yielding positive results as the color began to return to Kit's face.

Patricia looked on sympathetically. "Normally I would say to let her rest, but if she has a concussion we need to wake her up every couple hours."

He nodded, gently shaking the small woman awake. "Dex, you okay?"

"Feel like shit," she responded quietly. "Never let Lori drive again…worst driver ever."

"I promise ya will never get in a car with her again. What's your head like?"

"Hurts. I can't focus. Vision's blurry." Daryl could see that Kit was pretty well out of it but he felt so relieved that she was okay that he didn't give a damn. Hell, he had had concussions before and he always popped right back. Kit would be the exact same.

"Well, I took yer glasses off."

"Even when I had them on."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Ya scared the shit outta me, Dex."

"Payback, Griz," she joked. Daryl looked up and saw that Shane had reentered the living room from his 'talk' with Lori. "I heard people talking earlier. It was about Lori being pregnant. Did I hear right?" asked Kit.

"Yer ears are good, Dex. S'pose it's a shock."

She snorted. "Are you kidding? I knew before Rick."

Shane's eyes shot to Kit in surprise. "Why would Lori yell _you?_"

"Glenn wasn't being helpful. She wanted to talk it over with a woman. Men are stupid." Daryl couldn't help but get a kick out of the look on Shane's face. Apparently he took offense to the fact that Olive Oyl had told Kit before him.

* * *

Daryl woke Kit up every two hours that night and by the next morning it was clear she would eventually be fine. She would have to take the next couple of days pretty easy given the blood loss and the concussion, but Daryl would take real good care of her.

He had asked about the damn cat that always perked Kit up, but apparently the fur demon hadn't left Beth's side since she went into shock. It made a brief visit to Kit after she had begun to recover but went right back to its vigil over Beth. Hell if Daryl cared – he would just perk her up without the help of the pint-sized monster.

She sat on the couch now and Daryl wanted nothing more than to stay with her but Rick and the others still hadn't come back which meant he was on rescue duty. Fortunate for him, they came back on their own.

"What happened to you?" Rick asked, noticing the small cuts on Lori's face.

"I was in a car accident," she explained, not wanting to discuss it.

"Yeah, and she nearly got Kit killed," Daryl snapped. "I still ain't happy 'bout that." Daryl's day only became more frustrating when Randall's presence was pointed out. If it wasn't one damn thing it was another.

Daryl waited outside for a few minutes while the group debated, having his own internal debate. Both Kit and Carol had told him he shouldn't pull himself away from the group and instead be a part of it. He didn't know about Carol, but he _did _trust Kit's judgment. And he sure as hell wasn't going to leave her alone to fend against Shane's special brand of fucked up. He stepped into the dining room.

"Look, he was with a group of assholes who tried to kill you guys, so I don't want him on this farm. I say we do what Rick says and send him on his merry way once he's healed up. Sending him out alone may as well be a death sentence anyway." Kit was finally becoming coherent.

"Ya'll don't think his group is gonna come looking for us?" Shane asked scornfully.

"They left him for dead," Rick replied coldly.

"We should still post a guard," said T-Dog.

"As far as his group coming back, I wouldn't count on it," Kit drawled, "Unless they're stupider than the average dumbass. First of all, they wouldn't know the first place to start looking. Second of all, Rick, Herschel and Glenn kicked their asses, so I don't think they'll be eager for a rematch. Then there's also the fact that they don't know how many people are in our group, or how well armed we are. The unknown is some scary shit so I'm not too concerned about them looking."

"Let's all listen to the girl with a concussion," Shane replied sarcastically. "Someone who ain't thinking straight ought to be the first person we turn to for advice. You know what? I think I'll just get him some flowers and candy!"

"Shut the fuck up, Shane. Give me two days and I will kick your ass into next Tuesday."

"You know, little girl, you keep making those threats but I never see you come through on them." He looked around and it was clear nobody was going to back him up on his opinions concerning Randall and Kit. "Hell, we're back in fantasyland."

Daryl was surprised to see Herschel put Shane in his place. Maybe the old man had some balls after all. Didn't matter, though, his main concern was Kit. She beamed at him and he approached her in her chair. "I'm glad you came," she whispered.

He turned to Herschel. "It okay if I take her to our tent?" he asked. He wanted some goddamn privacy with his woman.

Herschel nodded. "I don't think I could convince you otherwise, anyway. Just make sure she doesn't strain herself too much. Tomorrow she could maybe try walking, but for today I don't want her moving much or trying to concentrate on anything."

"Ain't gonna hear a word of complaint from me 'bout that." He picked up Kit and began walking back to the camp he had set up the previous day for them. Once they had arrived there, his entire focus was on her, placing her on the sleeping pads they shared. "So Olive Oyl's ta blame fer gettin' ya into this mess?"

"I'm slowing getting memories from the crash back. She hit a walker and then, like an idiot, swerved into a ditch. God, that woman can be stupid sometimes."

"I figured that much. Gettin' pregnant ain't too smart durin' the apocalypse."

"It's one thing if it's a total accident, but I don't think she was using protection – which is just asking for trouble. Plus, she claims she doesn't know who the father is."

"That's gotta be hard."

"Well, I've done the math," Kit admitted. "It isn't Rick's. Lori took the test maybe a little over a week after Rick had come back from the dead. No way it's Rick's."

"Hell, then. No wonder Shane's actin' like she's his woman and all concerned 'bout the baby."

"I think she's made it pretty clear to him that he isn't allowed to be involved."

Daryl's eyebrows rose in mild interest. "I ain't one ta agree with Shane on anythin'. But, hell, if that was _ma _kid, I would be pissed at her, too. I'd be fightin' her all the way."

Kit was surprised. She hadn't thought about having children with Daryl until Lori had brought it up in the car and up until now she assumed he would never be interested. She, for her part, didn't think kids would be a good idea. "Never knew you liked kids."

"Don't got nothin' 'gainst them." He got a panicked look in his eyes. "Don't tell me I'm gonna be gettin' any surprises."

Kit rolled her eyes. "Unlike Lori, I'm pretty careful."

"Good. Jus' 'cause I ain't got nothin' 'gainst them don't mean I'm eager for 'em – especially now."

"Honestly, I was always scared of babies and little kids."

"Scared?" he laughed. "Why the hell would ya be scared of babies and little kids?"

"Well, babies are just so tiny and fragile I just feel like I would break one somehow. Little kids scare me for the same reasons and because I just don't know what to do with them."

"I thought you had sisters?"

Kit nodded. "Three younger sisters, but I never had to take care of them when they were really little. Callie was eight years younger than me, but I was terrified of babies even then. I didn't want to drop her."

Daryl was laughing with disbelief now. "I guess it's good ta know ya ain't gonna be plannin' on getting' pregnant, but that has got ta be the saddest think I's ever heard!" Kit flipped him off in response. "I can't believe a tough bitch like you's scared of a baby."

Kit allowed Daryl to finish laughing at her before lacing her hand into Daryl's, tracing patterns on is arm as she spoke. "I know I must have scared you and I'm sorry."

"Ain't nothin' to apologize for. You was just tryin' ta do tha right thing. 'Sides, you's the strongest woman here. Hell, I ain't even scared if you take on Shane 'cause he's got a helluva fight ta look forward to."

"That was easier than I imagined; I thought you might be angry."

"I was," he admitted. "More at Lori than you, but still mad. Only thing is, you are a difficult woman ta be fuming with, so I was only mad for about three seconds. Anyways, one yer back on yer feet, I'm taking ya to the woods ta teach you a few thangs."

"I really hope the things you intend to teach me involve multiple orgasms."

He laughed. "I thought ya was supposed ta be hurt. Nah, I'm gonna teach ya a few more things 'bout trackin' and huntin', maybe let ya try out ma crossbow."

Her eyebrows knitted together. Daryl had never even wanted her to _touch _his crossbow and he knew that she didn't like the idea of hunting, though she acknowledged it was necessary for their survival. "Why the sudden interest in survival lessons?"

"I jus' want ya prepared fer anythin' an' since we got time here, I ain't planning on wastin' it. We can try yer suggestion while we're at it, too."

"I suppose that's a fair trade," she sighed.

"Just so's I know, fer future reference, what's yer blood type. I'd rather not have another incident with guesswork."

"AB positive," she replied with a smirk. "The universal recipient. That means that I can take just about anyone's blood while you poor bastards have to search for matches."

"Good ta know just 'bout anyone'll do." Daryl didn't want to leave her there alone, but there was work to be done and being short one person did not help matters. "Can I trust ya here alone?"

"Leave me a knife and I'll be just fine."

He nodded before heading back towards the house.

* * *

There were apparently some type of repair needed on the roof and, unsurprisingly, that job was assigned to Daryl. Of course they would send him to a rooftop. While he was working, he saw that Lori kept looking at him funny. "What do ya want, Olive Oyl?" he asked. "Ya keep starin' at me so ya must want somethin'."

"I just want to know if Kit's going to be okay."

"How'd she look to ya this mornin' when she and Shane were barking at each other?" he asked irritably.

"Well, she seemed okay. A little out of it, but okay," Lori said hopefully, as if she wanted Kit to be okay more for her own sake than the other woman's.

"You have yer answer, then." He was not in the mood for a conversation with the skinny bitch, especially because she was distracting him from his work.

"I don't know what you want from me, Daryl." There she had to go get upset and make it about her. His assessment may have been a little harsh, but all he saw when he looked at Lori was the person who had nearly got Kit killed.

"What do I want?" he asked harshly. "Well, an apology would be a start. Not fer me, but fer Kit. Shit happens an' I get that, but you ain't said one word 'bout Kit since we found you two on the road. I got _shot_ by Andrea, but at least she's got the balls ta admit she screwed up."

"Are you saying I screwed up, then?"

Did he have to spell it out for her? "Yeah. Ya did. Ya hit a walker when you was supposed ta be drivin' and payin' attention ta the empty, fucking road. Then you panic after you hit the damn thing. I think that means ya screwed up. Christ, it ain't like I'm askin' ya ta find a cure fer the fever. Just have some fucking human decency."

Lori walked off, clearly upset by what Daryl had said, but he wasn't at all sorry for it. Lori needed to be informed that she was in the wrong. Nobody else was telling her that, so it may as well be him. She had damn near taken away one of the few people he gave a shit about anymore. Without Kit, he had very few reasons to stay with the group; the only real reason he planning on staying with them at all was because she liked the Glenn and Dale so much. It also looked like she had taken a liking to the Greenes, at least Herschel, anyway.

After he finished the roof he grabbed some food from the campsite and was about to leave them be when Dale walked up to him. "Why don't you join us for lunch, Daryl?"

"Gotta get some food ta Kit," he muttered, looking for an excuse to make his exit.

"I'm sure she won't mind the wait," Dale insisted. God damn it! Both Kit _and _the old man were trying to make him be 'part of the group' and neither were giving him much of a choice. "How is Kit, by the way?"

"Fine," Daryl mumbled. "She's a tough little bitch."

"She certainly is," Dale agreed. "I'm glad that you two are working out so well," he added, with a knowing smile.

"Don't ya got better things ta do than think 'bout that?"

"I'm an old man who brought very bad books for the apocaplyse; no, I'm afraid I don't have much better things to do. Besides, I'm glad that you're both happy – you're both changed people since the start of this."

Daryl knew that he was different when Kit was around, but he hadn't thought that she was the same way with him. "Yeah, I think we're happy." Daryl didn't know what else to say so he opted instead to shove some food in his mouth to avoid conversation, which didn't seem to perturb Dale.

"We've all got to enjoy the little pleasures of life now that they're so scarce."

Now the old man was just getting rambly, which was Daryl's cue to leave. It wasn't as if anyone else at the camp wanted him there, anyway – especially since Lori probably informed them all about their conversation earlier that day.

* * *

Kit had been right: she only needed two days to recover. Herschel wanted her to take things more slowly but she was far too bored to listen to him, even though he was probably right. "Don't make no difference, anyway," Daryl mused. "She didn't even take his advice when she weren't supposed ta try an' concentrate on anythin'. I caught her jotting things in a notebook more'n once."

"I still don't like the idea," Hershel muttered.

"Don't worry, Doc. I'll leave the more dangerous stuff for tomorrow."

Daryl's comment only made Herschel more anxious but Daryl knew Kit was bound to be running around with or without him, so he thought it best if she had him to back her up if something happened. She was waiting for him on the edge of the property, practically bouncing, anxious to finally be able to do something again.

"Alright, Dex, I think it's time fer a tracking lesson."

"You got it, Griz."

Apart from the first time they met, Daryl hadn't really had a chance to see Kit while she was in the woods; they had always been split up, or he had other things to concentrate on, or some other type of distraction. Now, he saw that she moved fluidly through the trees, ducking under the few branches she was taller than with ease. What he liked even more was how quiet she managed to be – not as quiet as him, but well on her way. Most of the others in the group stomped through the woods, making so much noise it was a wonder the walkers didn't hear them. They certainly wouldn't be very good at hunting.

He scanned the forest floor and found what he was looking for. "Looks like we've got ourselves a trail."

Kit listened attentively to the lesson, though he knew she wouldn't want to use these skills for hunting. After a few hours, she was really beginning to get the hang of it when they happened upon the deer that had made the trail for them. Kit froze and glanced up at him, wide eyed. She didn't want to shoot the deer.

He put his crossbow around his back to show her she didn't have to complete the lesson just yet. That is, before he and Kit heard moaning coming from what seemed like all around them.

Five walkers. No problem.

After a few minutes both he and Kit were wiping the necrotic blood off onto the now motionless bodies. "I think that's about it fer the day. We been out here fer hours, now. The others'll be wonderin'."

"Kit and Daryl out in the woods together?" she replied. "I don't think they'll be too worried unless we're not there tomorrow morning."

"I don't got much else ta teach ya fer trackin'. Ya jus' need practice."

"Let's just walk," she suggested. "And just so you know, there is one lesson that I would be very eager for you to give me: I want to learn how to throw knives. It would be convenient to take out walkers from a distance."

"Well, we ain't got any knives too good fer throwin' but if we find some I'll be sure ta teach ya a thing or two. Fer now, try out a crossbow."

The lessons and 'other activities' made Daryl and Kit a little late for dinner, but mostly what they received were knowing glances from the other members of the group.

Kit thought that she could get used to the farm. Like it, even.


	11. Chapter 11

Daryl would never grow tired of waking up with his arms around Kit and her tiny body pressed tight up against his chest and every morning he was equally irritated when they had to wake up. (He was especially reluctant that particular morning because he had been having an intensely vivid dream involving an owl. Maybe he had been hunting it.) That morning they had to be up even earlier because they were on breakfast duty. "Come on Dex, time to cook for the pussies." Daryl had his own special nickname for the rest of the group.

"Why?" she moaned. "They can go without."

He gave her a sharp nudge to try and force her awake because he didn't feel like trying to climb over her to get his stuff. She slowly raised her body then threw his clothes at him as she dug to find her own. They were both dressed around the same time but she wanted to try and pull her hair back so he stepped out into the morning air while he waited.

The sky still had a grey morning haze to it when Daryl saw an owl sitting in a tree near their tent. He had always been a man who followed his gut and between the owl in his dream and the one staring at him, his hairs began stand on end. Kit stepped out of the tent – her hair barely held together by the hair tie and bobby pins, still a little short to be tied back – she saw the owl and smiled. "A barn owl? I've never actually seen one before."

They began walking towards the main camp and Daryl decided to share his feelings towards the owl to Kit. "The owl gave me the creeps." He felt stupid saying it but at least he knew Kit wouldn't tease him about it – probably just dissuade him from superstition.

Her reaction was very different from what he expected as her eyebrows rose and then knitted together. It almost looked like she was interested in his concerns and trying to figure them out. "Any particular reason?" she asked.

He shrugged, not wanting to sound stupid. "I had a dream 'bout one, then we saw the one in the tree. Jus' don't sit right."

She nodded, considering what he had said. "I've never been particularly superstitious but later today you can look through a few of the books in my van. There are a handful in there that probably talk about what it might mean. I have one on dreams," she suggested. "I _have _always held a particular fascination with the meaning in dreams, so that would be a good place to start."

As he had figured, Kit wasn't particularly concerned, but she hadn't completely shot him down like the others probably would have. "Didn't think you'd be so open," he mused.

"Who am I to say what is or isn't suspicious anymore? Look into it and we'll see from there."

* * *

After breakfast, Rick and Shane left to drop Randall off at his specified 'release' location. This left Daryl and Kit relieved to have a day without the two men. "It probably won't go well, considering how tense they've been with each other lately, but I honestly don't give a damn," Kit said with a smile as she headed towards the house. "Look through my books and tell me what you find."

Kit usually didn't do domestic-type duties on the farm. Her experience with guns and her attachment to Daryl usually had her saddled with outdoor, physical work. Today, on the other hand, she was cooking in the kitchen with Maggie and Lori while Bernie weaved in and out of their legs. "You're going to get stepped on," Kit chided him.

Again, Kit had found herself missing girl talk and it was refreshing to have that again, even if it was with Lori. (Kit had no qualms with Maggie.) Maggie was apparently worried about Glenn because he blamed her for the fact that he froze while he was with Rick and Herschel.

Lori's advice was for Maggie to tell Glenn to man up. That, to Kit at least seemed a little harsh.

"He definitely shouldn't be blaming you," Kit told her. "But I would just give him some time and space to sort through all of this on his own. My guess is that he'll come around soon enough, knowing Glenn." Now she turned to Maggie really seriously. "He cares about you, Maggie."

After Lori had taken food up to Beth, she gave Maggie a small smile. "Men are just as stupid now as they were before. It took me and Daryl a little while, but he finally realized that he doesn't have to spend every waking moment worrying about me – Glenn will get there."

Maggie left to go be with Glenn and Kit stayed in the house, petting Bernie, when Lori came downstairs in a panic, holding a knife and looking completely helpless. "It's Beth…"

"She's suicidal," Kit said knowingly.

"How can you be so calm?" Lori asked.

"Panicking won't help anyone," Kit said as she stood up. "Get Maggie; I'll stay with Beth. But I need to talk to Maggie before she says anything to her sister. I don't want her to make things worse."

Kit ascended the stairs and entered Beth's room without making any sort of grand entrance. "So she told you," Beth said.

Kit nodded. "I don't think you actually want to kill yourself," she informed her. "Or, at least, you aren't serious enough to go through with it."

Beth looked at her dubiously. "And how would you know?"

Kit raised her eyebrows dismissively. "Your 'plan' was easily noticed by Lori which means you either wanted to be caught or you didn't think this through enough to prevent that. Also, if you were planning on slashing your wrists which also implies you haven't thought this through enough to actually be serious about it."

"Slashing your wrists can kill you," Beth insisted.

"It could potentially take hours for you to bleed to death that way and you live in a house of people who are likely to find you before that happens," Kit informed her, causing Beth to drop her eyes. "There are ways to speed up the process but I doubt you've had the opportunity to do much research. So, this leads me to believe that there are only one of two answers to how serious you are about this. Either you don't want to die because you haven't put the effort into learning the facts or you do want to die but it is solely impulsive. What I will tell you, as I've told others, is that suicide is not a choice to make on impulse."

"How do you know so much about killing yourself?"

"Because I've been exactly where you are right now," Kit said casually. "I understand what you're going through – probably more than most. Now, though, I'm happy I didn't go through with it. Humans have a remarkable ability to heal; it just takes time and patience."

Kit heard Maggie coming up the stairs. "I'll try to make this easier," she sighed before closing the door behind her.

Kit squared herself in front of Beth's older sister. "I don't think she seriously wants to do this. Either way, yelling at her and blaming her is not the answer. Be understanding and speak calmly with her or you'll make it worse."

With that, she left the sisters to figure things out together.

She stood in the kitchen with Andrea and Lori, listening to the screaming. "I guess Maggie didn't listen to a single fucking word I said."

"I guess not," Andrea grumbled. "This could have been handled better."

"No shit." As Kit and Andrea glanced at each other they began to finally feel their relationship going back to normal, realizing their common bond with the girl upstairs.

"By giving her a loaded gun?" Lori scoffed.

Andrea shrugged. "If she wants to die she'll find a way."

"Thankfully," Kit added. "I don't think she's serious. If she actually wanted to die she would have thought of a more sure method than the wrists."

Lori stared at them in disbelief. "I can't believe I let you go in there!" she said to Kit. "I hope you'll understand if I don't send either of you in there again."

Now she had pissed both Kit _and _Andrea off. "Excuse me?" Kit asked angrily. "I advised her against suicide but unlike you, I actually understand what she's going through. I can tell her from my own experience that it is possible to work through the pain she feels."

"I worked through my issues, too!" Andrea added indignantly.

"And you two are such productive members of the group," Lori said sarcastically. "Sitting on top of the R.V. with a gun, working on your tan or running through the woods with your boyfriend like you're sixteen and have the weekend alone! The men can handle this on their own. They don't need your help."

This caused Kit to drop her jaw in complete and utter shock and anger. "Forgive me if I don't want to revert back to the 1950's when women did all the housework and cooking. If there's a job that needs doing, I do it regardless of whether it's 'women's work' or 'man's work'." Kit's tongue was like acid. "I can shoot a gun, keep calm in a dangerous situation, and take care of my own damn self which makes me ten times more useful protecting the camp than you are. The same goes for Andrea now that she seems to have moved past her itchy trigger finger. I spent days looking for Sophia alone in the woods, not you Lori. I also haven't crashed a car on an empty road recently, injuring the person who was trying to help me find my husband."

"We contribute to the group just as much as you do. Are you seriously on our backs for skipping laundry?" Andrea was solidifying her friendship with Kit more and more by the second.

"There is plenty to be done. It puts a burden on the rest of us," Lori said haughtily. "On me and Carol and Maggie and Patricia. We provide stability."

"We protect the camp from walkers," Andrea retorted. "That's what matters."

"Look, I went after Rick and took down a walker," Lori began.

"You crashed Maggie's car, nearly killed Kit and never actually reached your destination to look for your husband. Did you ever apologize to either Kit or Maggie?" Andrea asked. Kit internally thanked Andrea.

"Maggie's car," Lori scoffed. "My husband is out there for the hundredth time, my son was shot! Don't you dare imply I take this for granted."

That was it! Kit, up until Lori had crashed the car, had not held anything in particular against Lori and had tried desperately not to judge her. Now, Kit was done trying to understand. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Yes, your husband is out there for the hundredth time along with anyone else on this farm who can shoot worth a damn which includes me and Daryl. Daryl was impaled with his arrow and shot; your son is not an isolated case. Moreover, you have lost nobody," she said harshly. "Andrea had to put down her own sister. I had to put down both of my parents and all three of my sisters. I had no family left when I went to Atlanta. Rick and Carl, your family, are fine."

"We've all suffered losses – Carol, Daryl, everyone but you. You stay here playing house and act like the queen bee. Tell that girl that she can have everything she wants – husband, son, baby, boyfriend – she just has to look on the bright side."Damn, Andrea, Kit thought, it's really nice to have you back.

Andrea left the room and Kit gave Lori a hard stare. "You took down one walker, whoop-de-fucking-doo. I don't think you should be pissing off the people who protect you and help you, Lori. It's been made very clear that you need protecting and you need all the help you can get."

Kit stormed out of the room after Andrea and left the house altogether, trying to find Daryl so she could be in the company of someone she liked.

Later, she learned that Beth had made a half-hearted attempt on her life, but that she wanted to live. Kit was happy to at least have been right about that, though it didn't take away from the pain the young girl was in.

* * *

Dinner was tense that night was incredibly strained as Kit and Andrea glared at Lori. Maggie glared at Andrea. And Lori glared at both Kit and Andrea. Daryl was absent from dinner again; he told Kit he wanted to read through her books and see if there was anything to his dream with the owl. She would have preferred to have him there, but she could handle herself.

"So Daryl's gone again," Lori muttered.

"Yes," Kit replied tersely.

"Any particular reason he doesn't think dinner with the group is good enough for him?" she asked.

"He has something else he wanted to do." Kit's voice was cold and everyone else at the table, apart from Andrea, began to feel uncomfortable. They had no clue why Kit and Lori were being so aggressive.

"It's probably for the best. He doesn't really belong with the group, anyway."

Kit stood abruptly. "I apologize for leaving, Herschel, but I have completely lost my appetite."

As Kit was leaving the room, trying not to retaliate, Lori decided she didn't want things to end peacefully. "It only makes sense, when you look at his family. Merle didn't belong, either, and neither of them are the type of men we'd want around."

Kit spun around. "Don't you dare say anything against Daryl _or _Merle. Both of them have done more for the group than you ever could."

"By getting high and wearing walker ears?"

Someone said "That's enough, Lori" but Kit didn't hear who. She was seeing red.

Kit bit the inside of her cheeks, keeping things as civil as possible. "Both of them can hunt, provide for, and protect the group. Daryl cares about other people and puts their needs above his own, unlike a few that I could mention, and he has contributed in more ways that can be counted. Merle, while reckless, was a decent man too."

Lori scoffed at Kit's statement. "Merle? A decent man?"

"He saved my life, which is a claim you certainly can't make" Kit spat icily. "He convinced me to go to Atlanta and I don't know whether or not I would have lived otherwise. Moreover, he's Daryl's brother, and out of decent human respect for Daryl, you should hold your tongue regarding Merle. I won't hear a word against him."

Kit left the house before she lost her self-control and the cool night air along with the brisk walk to the tent she shared with Daryl calmed her down a little but it did nothing to ease the hurt she felt. She had thought she and Lori were beginning to become friends but after what Lori had said earlier that day and at dinner, Kit didn't think she could ever forgive her. Anyone who made Daryl out to be less than worthy of the group would make an enemy out of Kit in the process. He had worked so hard and she couldn't stand to think that his hard work had not changed people's minds.

When she entered the tent, Daryl immediately knew something was wrong. "Hey." He wasn't very good at calming people down, but he didn't think that was what Kit needed. "What's wrong?" She just shook her head in response, apparently not wanting to talk. "Thas okay, ya don't need ta say anythin'."

She sat down and he wrapped his arms around her, wanting to know who he would be shooting daggers the next day. All she managed to say was "I'm not sure if we belong in the group anymore."

That immediately put him on edge. Kit had always been adamant that they should stay with the group and that both of them had a place in it. He didn't know what had happened at dinner but whatever they had said must have been beyond terrible. "I looked up what the owl means. Apparently it means change is comin'."

"If leaving the group is what's best, then I won't hesitate to do it. Especially for you."

Daryl had wanted to leave the group for a long time and take Kit with him. Even so, he couldn't believe that she would do that for _him_. It was so much to ask. "Ain't no reason ta make a decision tanight."

"If change is coming," she whispered. "I just want you to be here when it's all said and done."

He gently kissed the top of her head. "I ain't goin' nowhere."

They sat in silence for a while, when Kit said something that Daryl had not been expecting. "I never got to thank Merle."

"Fer what?" He couldn't think of anything Merle had done for Kit.

"He saved my life. Remember, he was the one who convinced me to go to Atlanta. If you think about it, if it weren't for him, then I wouldn't be with you now."

That was a thought that Daryl would prefer not to have. "I guess we do got somethin' ta thank Merle fer."

"Come on, Griz. Let's get some sleep." All Kit wanted to do was forget the events of that day.

* * *

She sat at the campsite glaring at Rick. "This isn't right. If you want to know so damn bad, then find out yourself."

"Daryl can be more persuasive." Rick didn't look happy about the situation, but he didn't exactly seem to feel guilty, either.

Daryl was walking toward camp and Kit felt as if she might cry. He wasn't some animal they could order to attack someone they didn't like. His face broke her heart. "Our boy's got a gang of thirty men with heavy artillery and they ain't lookin' ta make friends. They roll through here and our men are dead…and our women will wish they were."

The blood on Daryl's hands made it very clear what methods of 'persuasion' Rick had asked him to employ; his face was darkened from what he had been forced to do. He walked away, rattled from his encounter with Randall and Kit quickly ran after.

At their tent, far away from everyone else, he was beginning to break down. He pulled her in so tight she was having trouble breathing as he remembered what Randall had said about the two teenage girls. Kit couldn't be more than a handful of years older than those girls and the thought of anything that horrible happening to her was more than he could handle.

When he released her he saw that she was crying. "You shouldn't let them treat you like their attack dog."

"Someone had ta do it," he deadpanned.

"You're not an animal!" she cried. "You shouldn't have to do that if you don't want to."

He slowly let himself fall to the ground. She was right and he damn well knew it. Hell, Shane should have been sent in there. He was every bit as capable as Daryl and he may actually enjoy it, the sick bastard. "Why do ya have ta be right so damn often?"

She lowered herself to the ground, not responding and eased his head onto her lap. Now more than ever she was beginning to believe that she and Daryl should leave. If they only thought he was worthy of tasks like beating the shit out of people, then she didn't want to belong to a group like that. She began stroking Daryl's hair thinking to herself that she would be fine as long as she had Daryl. "They'll want to kill him now. I'm sure Rick's already decided."

"Probably."

"I accepted the fact that civilization was gone a long time ago but that doesn't mean that I'll accept a descent into barbarism. I'm going to put most of our stuff into my van so we can leave quickly if we decide to leave the group." The look on his face was beginning to scare her. "Please say something."

"Ain't no one ever tried to stick up fer me the way you do. Not even Merle."

"I'm sticking up for human decency," she insisted. But after a moment she added darkly "And if anyone ever tries to do anything that will hurt you – whether it's making you do the dirty work or actually getting physical – I will fight them to my last dying breath."


	12. Chapter 12

Dale noticed that Kit was beginning to load some of her things into the minivan she drove – that couldn't be good. He knew that there had been tension between the pair and the rest of the group, but he hadn't imagined that things had become so bad that they wanted to leave. Since Kit was still upset from earlier, he decided to approach Daryl, instead.

The redneck sent him an irritated look, but Dale reminded himself that Daryl was a good man, just a pissed man at the moment. "The point of us comin' up here is ta get away from you people."

"It's going to take more than that," Dale informed him. "Kit had to learn that the hard way back at the quarry. I am a very persistent man."

"Did Carol send you?" Daryl asked.

"Carol isn't the only one who's concerned about you and your role in the group."

"I don't need my head shrunk: the group's broken, Kit an' I are better off by ourselves." He meant it, too. The idea was becoming sweeter and sweeter.

"You keep saying that you don't care," Dale began.

"That's 'cause I don't. The only thing I care 'bout right now is standin' next to her car." He paused for a second, knowing that Kit cared about the Old Man. "Yer free ta come if ya want," he said guardedly. "I know Kit likes you an' Glenn."

"I'll pass," Dale sighed, as he watched Daryl putting on his jacket. "So live or die you don't care what happens to Randall?"

"Nope."

"So why don't you take my side, help him live."

"I didn't peg you for a desperate sumbitch," Daryl drawled.

"Your opinion makes a difference," Dale insisted. "Kit's, too."

Daryl scoffed. "Ain't no one lookin' to me fer nothin'. An' they certainly don't give a damn what Kit says, even if they should. She's right too damn often fer her own good."

"Carol's looking to you," Dale told Daryl. "I care about your opinions and Glenn listens to Kit. You obviously have Rick's ear."

Daryl had never heard more bullshit in his life. "Rick listens ta Shane," he growled. "Let him."

However, the redneck did have to give Dale one thing: he was as persistent as he claimed to be. "You cared about what happened to Sophia, you cared about what it meant to the group." Dale had unwittingly just crossed a line with Daryl. "Torturing people? That isn't you," he said firmly. "You are a decent man – otherwise Kit wouldn't be with you. Rick is a decent man, too. Shane is a different matter."

"'Cause he killed Otis. Rick ain't stupid: if he don't know what happened, it's 'cause he didn't wanna. Like I said, the group's broken. 'Sides, I don't know what that Olive Oyl bitch said ta Kit yesterday but I do know that I never want ta see Kit come back to our tent lookin' like that again. But so's ya know, ya don't need ta convince me ta side with ya on Randall. I don't give a damn, but Kit doesn't want the kid ta die and I know what's good fer me. So ya can go ahead an' leave an' then come back when ya need somethin' else from me."

"You know that I think highly of you, Daryl," Dale insisted. "Otherwise I wouldn't have told you that you should pursue her."

Daryl continued to stalk off, wanting to leave this group behind him.

Dale was happy that Daryl would side with him, even if it was only because of Kit, but he was still disappointed that he hadn't gotten through to the man. The last thing he wanted was for the pair to leave, especially her. Kit was one of the few people in the group who wouldn't go flying off the handle with every new issue that came up; she was calm and exerted that calm on the others. If Dale wanted to prevent the group from actually breaking, he would need her.

He approached Herschel, thinking that he would have an easy ally in the other man, but soon realized that this wouldn't be the case when all Herschel would say was that he didn't want to know and he would leave it to Rick.

"If you aren't going to talk to Randall, you can't tell me you don't care about what Kit thinks."

Herschel paused. "She's always seemed reasonable – nice enough."

"Well you should know then that she is very opposed to this execution and wants nothing to do with it. In fact, I suspect that if Rick goes through with it, she and Daryl may leave the group permanently. I'm sure you can imagine the potential consequences of that."

Herschel nodded gravely. "She keeps some of your uppity thoroughbreds in check, I know. I'll think about it and if it appears many in your group side with you two, then I'll agree with you, but I don't want to go against Rick if I can help it."

* * *

While Dale was trying to get the group on his side, Kit continued making preparations for her departure with Daryl, should they make that decision. What surprised her was that Shane approached her, literally waving a white flag, or rag, as the case was. "I'm comin' here peacefully. Can we have a civil discussion?" he asked.

"I'm never opposed to civil discussion," Kit informed him. "You simply make very uncivil suggestions which causes uncivil debate."

"Well, I'm just here ta talk." Kit eyed him up and down before nodding, giving him the signal he could continue. "I wanna know where you stand on the Randall issue."

"I'm sure you can guess, given how often we end up on opposing sides."

"I figured as much," he sighed. "What do you suggest if we don't kill him?"

"I say we drive him off as far away as possible and leave him there – I'll take him myself, if I have to. I won't deny that you might be a challenge, but I could kick that boy's ass in about two seconds if he gives me trouble."

Shane nodded amicably. "I will give you that, Eldridge, you could kick his ass. But don't you think it's dangerous lettin' him go?"

"My guess is that his group is long gone by now and he doesn't even have the slightest inkling of where to go to look for them. Look, I'm not saying we should help him out but we should at least give him a fighting chance. I don't think he's even eighteen, yet."

He sighed, realizing he wouldn't convince her. "I s'pose it's inevitable for us to disagree on everythin' an' you know by now that I don't care fer you much but I don't want you an' Daryl leavin'."

Kit couldn't believe her own ears. Yes, they never agreed and yes, they hated each other, but why the hell would Shane want her and Daryl to stay? "What?"

He rubbed the back of his head, like he always did when he was agitated. "I'm gonna tell ya right now, I think yer wrong on just 'bout everythin', but you gotta understand that I've got only one priority right now an' that's ta keep Lori an' Carl safe. You an' Daryl are probably the best shots here an' you both know how ta survive, unlike most people. Given the special set of skills you two have, I want you to stay because I want to protect my own. I know you an' Lori ain't on good terms right now, but I also know you don't want her dead."

"Walsh, you are so fucking strange," she grumbled. "You want us to stay?" Kit did have to give Shane credit for one thing: he cared about Lori, Carl and his unborn child. He, like Kit, had probably done the math. "Well, I'll tell ya what, Walsh, whether or not we stay depends entirely on how the debate goes tonight."

He nodded, getting the answer he expected. "Since we're actually managing to talk to each other without this turning into an all-out brawl, I do have another question for you, since Lori told you before me or Rick. Does she know who the father is?" He figured Lori could be lying about the confusion with the paternity.

Kit had to think carefully before she proceeded. She knew that Shane would only pursue Lori even more aggressively if she told him what she knew and that he would certainly inform Rick that he was the uncontested father of the baby. She also believed that Lori had the right to choose who she wanted to father the baby. However, she was not in the mood to make Lori's life any easier at this point and she certainly understood why Shane would believe he had a right to be involved. "What will you do if I answer yes to either situation?" she asked.

"Well, if Lori is actually confused, I still think it's mine and I still know that Rick can't protect her and Carl like I can. If it's mine, then I think I should have a right to it and I'm gonna fight for that right."

It was about what Kit expected. "What do you mean by fight for it?"

"I'll do whatever I gotta do to convince her."

"Well," Kit replied, "I don't know whether or not Lori knows who the father is, but I certainly do." Screw Lori and screw Rick – they played just as large a part in her desire to leave as Shane. At least Shane was straightforward, though, easy to understand. Under normal circumstances, Kit didn't believe in giving into personal vendettas but she figured that either way Shane would still believe the baby was his. Lori could now consider her and Kit even. "It seems that all those years learning to count weren't a complete waste for you, Walsh," she said.

He raised his eyebrows. "So it ain't Rick's?"

"If either you or Rick or even Lori had actually paid attention in health class, then you would know that a woman isn't going to know she's pregnant only barely over a week since the sex – no missed periods at that point. So, if Lori was exhibiting symptoms to make her believe she was pregnant when she took that test, there's no way it's Rick's. I don't even think her body would have even registered the difference after only eight days or sure."

Shane didn't know what to say. "Are you actually helping me out, Eldridge?"

"I'm sharing general knowledge," she replied. "Besides, right now I'm actually more pissed at Rick and Lori than I am at you, if that's even possible. I ask only three things in return for this information and I think you'll agree it's a fair trade. First, no one is to know that I told you this – as far as they're concerned, you figured it out yourself. Second, don't make me regret giving you this information by creating a massive shit storm. And finally, don't be an asshole tonight. If you fail to come through on any of those conditions then Daryl and I leave that very second, no more discussion."

Shane nodded in agreement. "You got yerself a deal, Eldridge."

"We never had this conversation then. Now get your ass out of here before you piss me off and make me retract this deal."

* * *

The tension in the room as they all waited for the debate to begin was absolutely insufferable. Kit and Daryl stood together on the very edge of the group, as had become their customary place. It was agreed that they would see where the group stands before determining how many votes it required to execute that poor kid.

"The way I see, we got only one option," Shane declared. After all, he hadn't promised to agree with her during the debate, only that he wouldn't be a complete asshole.

"By killing him!" Dale said indignantly. "Why even bother with a vote? It's clear where the wind's blowin'." Dale knew that so far, he only had the assured votes from Kit and Daryl.

"I still want to see where everyone stands," Rick insisted.

Kit decided to speak. "Daryl and I agree with Dale." All the eyes in the room were drawn to her and appeared shocked that she and Daryl agreed with the older man. Though, it was still only a small group of three.

They began arguing about how Randall was just another mouth to feed when Dale suggested Randall could be an asset. "Hold on," Kit interjected. "I said we don't want Randall to be executed, not that he should be a part of the group. I say we ship him off as far away as possible and leave him there."

The others seemed to agree that it was impractical to keep him around and trust him. Kit did have to agree with Shane on one thing: keeping Randall there was a bad idea. A watch on him would be a pain in the ass and just because she didn't want to kill him that didn't mean Kit trusted him.

"So the answer is to kill him for a crime he may never even attempt?" Dale asked. "We do that and we are declaring there is no piece of civilization left."

Shane was about to groan about Dale's little speech when he saw that Kit had her eyes trained on him, making sure he kept his end of the deal. He would just have to express his opinions in a different way.

"Well," Herschel said. "What about Kit's idea? We drive him further out?"

"You barely came back this time," Lori whined. "Anything could happen."

"I'll do it myself so you don't have to worry about putting your husband in danger," Kit told Lori icily. "I don't care if I have to drive Randall all the way to Montana by myself if that's what it takes to save his life. Now, I say we drive him a few hours away, drop him off, and leave him be."

Glenn gave her a worried look. "I don't want anyone putting their lives at risk." Though, in truth, the people actually making the decisions didn't give a damn whether Kit's life was at risk or not – those people being Rick, Shane and Lori.

As the others began discussing execution methods Daryl and Kit shared a look of discomfort with the topic and Kit shook her head in disgust at the ease with which the others talked about a man's life. She also knew that if there was dirty work to be done – say, an execution – Rick would want Daryl there for sure and she could possibly be dragged in as well.

"This is a young man's life!" Dale cried "And it is worth more than a five-minute conversation." He glared at everyone. "Besides, there are other consequences to this decision than simply whether or not that poor boy lives. Or was I the only one who noticed Kit packing her car today?"

Everyone except Shane looked at her with surprise, so Kit could reasonably assume that no one had been paying any attention, not that she cared. Glenn and Herschel in particular looked concerned. "Are you leaving?" Glenn asked, hurt.

"I've been considering it," she replied slowly, realizing that everyone was staring at her in shock. "It's something Daryl and I have discussed for a while and in all honesty I don't know if I want to stay in a group that is capable of casually ending a boy's life."

"You would abandon the group?" Rick asked, clearly not getting it.

"In many ways, Daryl and I have never been a part of it," she said, sending an accusatory glance at Lori. "And don't think that this decision has been made lightly. Besides, we're just two more mouths to feed," she said, echoing the concerns that had been expressed about Randall earlier. "And we're two more people who don't agree with every action that you take, Rick."

The group appeared completely astonished that she and Daryl would even consider this. "We're better off on our own, in case ya didn't get the picture," Daryl added.

"That man has been tortured and now he's going to be executed," Dale continued. "How are we any better than the men we're so afraid of? Most of you can't even tell when two people in your own group are feeling alienated from everyone! Some people noticed it, Carol being one, but up until just now, now that they're actually leaving, I haven't seen any attempts to try and keep them in the group coming from anyone else."

Dale's speech made everyone else in the group besides Shane feel incredibly uncomfortable as they considered their actions with Randall and continually stole glances at Kit and Daryl. "I think we all know what we need to do," Shane said, staring straight at Kit as he said it.

Rick made half-hearted attempts to be diplomatic before Andrea finally added her two cents. Apart from the opinions expressed by Dale and Herschel that night, Andrea's opinion was one of the few Kit actually gave a shit about. Andrea, like Kit, could be diplomatic when she wanted to and try to find a healthy medium. "So what's the solution?" she asked. "We haven't come up with a single viable solution, yet, that everyone feels comfortable with."

"So let's try to find one!" Dale insisted.

Kit decided to give one final opinion to the group, knowing it probably wouldn't do any good. "The key to a good compromise," she began "Is that nobody feels completely comfortable with it. That means that a compromise has actually occurred. This discussion has seen two extremes: Randall's execution and trying to sing kumbaya with him on the farm. Our job is to find the solution that sits between those two extremes and carry it out, even if everyone doesn't agree on it because that solution is the most likely one to be fair."

Carol finally said something, though it didn't exactly warm Kit's heart. "Just stop it! Stop arguing. We didn't ask for this, you can't expect us make a decision. Either of you, both of you, any of you: you can decide for yourselves, but leave me out."

"Not speaking out, or killing him yourself, there is not difference." Dale was a little more passionate about this subject than Kit, but that may have been due to the fact that she was ready to leave.

"That's enough," Rick declared. "Anyone who wants the floor before we make a decision, this is your final chance."

Dale continued begging the group, mirroring Kit's own thoughts on the issue, but Kit could see already that everyone else had either made up their minds, or would be a bystander in the matter. "Is there anybody apart from the two people about to leave this group for good who will stand with me?"

"He's right," Andrea said, giving Kit a pleasant surprise. "We should try to find another way. If you don't want to do it for Randall, then do it if you want Kit and Daryl to consider staying. I know that I don't want them to leave."

If she and Daryl left, Kit _would _miss Andrea. She would miss Glenn and Dale and Herschel and Maggie, but ultimately, she had to listen to her conscience and maybe Andrea would leave with them. Kit knew that Andrea felt a little out of place in the group, too.

Dale was clearly rattled by the decision the group had come to, despite the fact that four people were opposed to the execution. As he left, he gave Daryl a very serious stare. "You're right, this group _is _broken."

* * *

Night would be falling soon and Daryl and Kit were making final preparations to leave when they were approached by a small group of people: Carol, Andrea, Herschel, and Glenn.

"So you're really leaving?" Andrea asked.

Kit nodded in response. "We leave tomorrow – I can't live with this."

"You know that we don't want you to leave," Carol told them. "We all care about you two, Dale, too."

"Maggie doesn't want you to leave," Herschel insisted.

Daryl and Kit weren't happy to be leaving, but at this point they felt as if they had no choice. "Unless Randall's life is spared," she informed them, "We leave tomorrow morning. Just like I said in the house."

With that, she and Daryl laced hands, heading back to their tent for their final night on the farm. They ran into Rick and Shane there, but they only served to confirm one of their reasons for leaving. "Daryl, can you help us out? Kit, you'd be useful, too."

"Kill him your own goddamn self," she spat. "Since you so clearly want him dead."

Rick glanced at Daryl. "It's just in case somethin' happens," he said, knowing what it would take to get Daryl to come. "We don't want him runnin' off."

"Unbelievable! So I guess it takes three men to kill someone." She retreated to her tent, knowing that Daryl didn't want any part of it, but still pissed that he would so easily bow to Rick's manipulation.

Daryl didn't feel at all comfortable with the execution, especially because he knew that Kit would be _very _pissed off. But they would be leaving in the morning, and anything he had helped Rick with would soon be far behind them. What made him even angrier with Rick was the way the other man was dragging his feet when the execution was supposed to be 'quick'. If Rick couldn't carry out the execution himself, then he shouldn't have made that decision.

He couldn't help but feel happy that Rick couldn't stand by this particular decision, though. However, it did leave him wondering what he and Kit would do in the morning. After all, she had only promised to leave if Randall was executed, which clearly wasn't going to happen. At least she would probably be a little less pissed at him.

Kit had been looking for Daryl, knowing that he should have been back by now – at least if they had actually killed Randall – when she heard someone screaming in the field. Acting solely on instinct, Kit unsheathed her knife and ran towards the screams.

What she came upon was something she couldn't bear to see: Daryl hunched over Dale with a dispatched walker not far away. She nearly vomited when she noticed the condition he was in because there was absolutely no way he could live through that, at least not without a hospital.

"Dale," she choked, alerting Daryl to her presence.

He was about to run to Kit when he saw Rick standing over Dale's body, clearly lacking the balls to put the poor man out of his misery. Daryl took the gun from Rick, not wanting Kit to have to see Dale suffering. "Sorry brother," he said, before pulling the trigger.

Right after doing so, he ran over to Kit who was, as always, his first priority. He supposed he had his answer now: there was no way they could leave the following morning.


	13. Chapter 13

Kit stood at Dale's funeral, not knowing what she should feel. The grief was overwhelming, having lost one of the first friends she had made at the quarry and someone she knew had genuinely cared about her simply because he cared, no ulterior motive. That alone would have been more than enough to send her to her knees, but when she heard Rick talking about Dale, she couldn't help but feel a little disgust.

She knew that technically, there was no one to blame for Dale's death, except the walker who killed him. Whenever she looked at Rick, though, she saw the cause of Dale's premature demise. If Rick hadn't made the wrong decision – which he had finally realized inside the barn – then Dale wouldn't have been wandering angrily though the field. Kit may have even been with him at the group camp, discussing whether or not she and Daryl should leave. But more than anything, she was angry at Rick simply because he hadn't listened to Dale. He had refused to listen to the person in the group who actually had any sense of humanity.

When she saw his grave lined up with the others, she didn't really want to stay with the group. The group had abandoned Dale during the debate, choosing to stay silent. However, when Rick rambled about honoring Dale's memory by keeping the group together, she knew he was right: Dale didn't want her and Daryl to leave the group so she would honor his wish, as much as it killed her.

Daryl had never left her side since that night which she had desperately needed. Without him there, she may have utterly fallen apart because Dale's funeral had been harder for her than Sophia's had been. This was the most profound loss she had experienced since the outbreak and when she looked at the line of graves, she surmised that there were probably more to come.

* * *

"It'll be tight," Rick said. "Fifteen people in one house."

"We'll make it work," Herschel insisted. "You should have moved there a long time ago."

Kit wasn't exactly eager to give up the privacy she had become accustomed to with Daryl, but safety came before comfort. Besides, they had been in an even more dangerous position than the main group had been, on the edge of the woods.

Rick was giving out jobs as the move progressed. "T-Dog, I need you, Daryl and Kit to be keeping watch while the rest of us are working. You also need to observe the traffic coming in and out of the house, make sure no one goes missing." They began discussing safety matters and Rick outlined his plan. "We'll lock this area down first, then Shane will assign shifts for patrols. Before too long, Daryl and I will go to drop off Randall."

Kit was surprised that Rick had selected Daryl, though his decision made perfect sense since Shane would not be eager to be helping Randall out. She could see that Shane wasn't happy about it, but let him be pissed.

She and Andrea began to walk towards the house together. Kit was thankful she at least had this friend left. "I'm glad you're not leaving," Andrea told her earnestly. "We're better off with you and Daryl here."

Kit gave a small smile, but before she could say anything, she heard Rick call their names. "Kit, Andrea, I need you two to do me a favor. While Daryl and I are gone, I want you to make sure that things don't get out of hand, especially with Shane. You two seem to have a talent for stayin' calm and thinkin' clearly, so employ those talents."

Kit and Andrea answered simultaneously. "Me?"

"I trust you both, especially because you two made the right call last night."

Kit narrowed her eyes suspiciously but gave him the answer he wanted. "You don't need to remind me to keep a close eye on Shane; I do that anyway. All you have to do is make sure you and Daryl come back in one piece."

Later that day, she and Daryl were repairing the barn together – some things never changed. "So we're back to fixing roofs again?" she grumbled.

"Two steps forward one step back," he sighed. "An' since we ain't leavin' I guess we better get used ta it."

"I just wish that somebody else could be on top of the barn roof that looks like it could collapse," she replied. "He's right to take you with him, though, especially instead of Shane."

"Do ya think he'll actually start listenin', Dex?" he asked honestly.

"I'm not sure. He told me and Andrea to watch Shane earlier today so it appears as if you and I may have been given a promotion. If that's the case, then he might actually start listening. I've been giving him a scathing report in my journal of events insofar, though, so I'm not getting my hopes up."

"Journal of events?"

"I've been recording what's happened to us since our experiences will become history, if the human race doesn't destroy itself first."

"'Course you would," he said with a smirk. "You are 'Dex' after all. I think yer the only one here who would be thinkin' 'bout tha' history shit. I jus' hope you ain't too harsh on me in tha' thing."

"I have nothing but good things to record about Daryl Dixon," she said, an actual smile beginning to appear on her face, despite how recent Dale's death had been. "That guy is going to be all over the history books as one of the heroes of the outbreak. You'll be a household name, Griz."

"I doubt that, but it's nice ta know ya like me more'n Rick."

"I would hope so. After all, I can't recall having sex with him in recent memory."

Daryl rolled his eyes at her snarkiness, though he was relieved that it appeared she could recover from Dale's death. "You still wearin' that shirt?" he asked. "Ain't ya cold?"

While the others had been adding layers in the last couple days, Kit had not changed her dressing habits at all. "Nope. I've said it once and I'll say it again: you Georgians are pussies when it comes to cold. Once it starts dropping into the 40's I'll start thinking about wearing warmer clothes."

Once they had finished the repairs they began bringing a few of their things into the house, trying to find a space where they could sleep together. As they did so, Kit noticed Lori and Shane talking by the windmill. Shane had better not make her regret their deal.

When they had found themselves a corner, Daryl noticed the grimace on Kit's face. "Don't worry, Dex, we'll jus' have ta get creative, is all." He figured she was missing their seclusion.

"We'll have to be pretty damn creative," she sighed, kissing him.

Rick motioned Daryl over so she continued packing her things while Bernie made a nuisance of himself. Daryl came back a few minutes later with a dumbfounded look on his face, earning him a raised eyebrow. "Rick jus' asked me abou' a decision, askin' what I thought of it. Guess we got those promotions you was talkin' 'bout."

* * *

Kit could see that Shane was pissed about something, probably having to do with Rick and Lori, so she started after him – rifle over her shoulder – hoping she could prevent a catastrophe and fulfill the promise she made to Rick about keeping an eye on Shane. Within moments it became very clear to her that Shane was headed in the direction that a certain prisoner happened to be in. 'Fuck, Shane, why do you have to make my life harder?' Kit thought. She had not fought for Randall's life only to have Shane do what he wanted anyway

She had always prided herself on her ability to stay quiet in the woods and judging by the fact that Shane didn't notice she was there, it seemed that pride was warranted. It soon became very clear that Shane had something more than killing Randall in mind and Kit knew that she had to do something fast. She began silently making her way to Shane, wanting to incapacitate him, at least. Finally, she jumped him.

She hit him in the face as hard as she could, sending him reeling and she knew that she had to continue before he figured out what was going on. She kicked him below the belt, then smacked the back of his head with the butt of her gun, knocking him out.

Standing there, panting, she turned her attention to Randall. "Let's get you back to the farm and on your merry way. We'll deal with Shane later." Kit grabbed his arm roughly, beginning making her way back to the farm as fast as she could, nearly reaching the very edge of the woods, before she felt something grab her shoulders. Shane.

He shoved her into a tree, sending her gun to the forest floor, before grabbing Randall and snapping his neck. "That was the wrong move," he growled, picking her gun up off the ground and pointing it straight at her. Keeping the gun trained on Kit, he yanked the rope off of Randall's wrists. "Try anything and I'll shoot you right now," he threatened.

While he was tying her wrists and ankles up, he kept conversation going. "I gotta give you credit, bitch, you _do _pack a punch. And I do admit that you got me, but a little piece of advice: don't turn your back on someone you can't outrun and you ain't sure isn't gonna wake up. If ya hadn't saved Randall there, you woulda been outta these woods before I could get you." He began dragging both of their bodies deeper into the forest, probably so no one would find Kit.

"Now, I'm gonna give you the chance you wanted ta give Randall. I'm gonna leave ya here all trussed up and give ya an honest chance, 'cause believe it or not, I don't actually want ta kill ya. Maybe the walkers will get you, maybe they won't. I don't give a shit, either way but I'll leave it to luck. What I'm gonna do now is get rid of the person who's gonna get Lori, Carl, and my baby killed. Even you gotta admit that Rick is a shitty father. Bye, Kit, and good luck. Gotta thank you: now I don't have to smash my face against a tree to look like I've been attacked. You did the work for me."

He stormed off, leaving her there.

* * *

Daryl stood with the rest of the group, trying to figure out how the hell that kid slipped his cuffs when Shane came at them, screaming Rick's name. "He's got my gun! The little bitch clocked me in the face and is running through the woods right now."

Daryl was preparing to go looking for Randall when he noticed that Kit wasn't around, which was beyond weird. If there was something important going on, she was sure to be right in the middle of it. Besides, she would have heard Shane's shouts and come running to see what the hell had worked him up. This definitely didn't feel right to Daryl – something was up and he had a feeling that, as usual, Kit was in the middle of it.

Things only began to become more suspicious when Rick asked him if he could find a trail. "I don't see nothin'," he said. If either Shane or Randall had been through this area of the woods, he would have picked up on it, causing alarms to go off in his head. Shane had to be lying about something.

"We're wastin' our time tryin' to find trails!" Shane yelled.

Daryl wanted to get the truth. "That kid weighs a buck-twenty-five when his clothes are wet an' yer tryin' ta tell me you got the jump on him?" The angry glare that Shane sent his way told Daryl that he was approaching a sensitive topic – good.

They were soon separated and he was with Glenn, thankfully. He preferred the Asian kid to the other two any day. "We're goin' back ta where we started," he informed Glenn. "I wanna have a trail an' if somethin' happened, I'll be able ta see it."

Sure enough, when Daryl followed Shane's trail back into the woods, he found what he had been looking for. "There was some sorta scuffle here. Looks like whoever got the worst end of it didn't take too long ta be taken out. They fell hard an' flat so they was either knocked out or dead." It certainly hadn't been Shane; that bastard was way too big to leave such a small disturbance on the forest floor. Daryl figured it must have been Randall. "There're three sets of tracks here, though."

"Three?"

"Yeah, looks like there was someone else who was here 'sides Shane an' Randall but I gotta pretty good idea who it was."

There were dragging marks leading to an area just a little further into the woods. As he followed the trail, Glenn clearly didn't understand what was going on. "Who was with them?"

"Ma guess would be Kit. She wadn't with us when Shane came yellin' outta the woods an' that don't sit right." Where the dragging marks halted he found another fight that had happened. "This scuffle lasted a little longer than the other one. Can't tell exactly what happened, but after it happened, two bodies were drug through the woods." Two bodies that were significantly smaller than Shane's.

The trail continued past the area where the brawl had occurred, so he continued to follow them. Now Daryl was beginning to become very agitated. He knew damn well the other body had to have been Kit's but all that was left to figure out was whether that fuck had left her dead or alive.

At the very end of the trail, he found yet _another _brawl, but this one messed up the timeline he had been creating in his head. "The bout tha' happened here was over pretty quick, too. Here there're three sets of footprints, again." There was evidence that someone had fallen here, too, and this person was way too big to be Randall or Kit.

"What happened?" Glenn asked.

"My guess is that at some point, Kit took out Shane an' from the looks of things she and Randall were high-tailin' it back to camp when Shane caught up with 'em. This is where the draggin' marks end, though, an' I don't see Kit or Randall."

Then, he noticed some rope on the ground. Shane wouldn't have left a dead body tied up so at least one of them was alive and he was putting his money on Kit. "Shane had someone tied up here an' they got loose. It was probably someone with really tiny hands an' wrists who could slip this rope."

"Kit," Glenn gasped, eyes wide.

Daryl caught sight of a single set of footprints leading away from the rope but before he could do anything, he and Glenn heard something in the woods and Daryl knew that if they had _heard _something, then it definitely couldn't be Kit. Soon, they were being attacked by a walker and it damn near took Daryl out before Glenn smashed its head. "Nice," Daryl told him, before examining the walker which had once been Randall. "Got his neck broke." It lined up with what he had found a while ago near the edge of the woods – a body that had been knocked out or killed – but it sure as hell didn't explain how the kid had ended up a walker. "He's got no bites," he said nervously.

"None that you can see."

"I'm tellin' ya, he died from the broke neck."

"How is that possible?" Glenn asked.

Daryl returned his attention to the single set of tracks. "She got away an' no one followed her, so ma guess is that she went back ta the house. If Kit's in the woods alone, she's fine." It was getting too dark to continue following the trail, anyway, and Daryl did feel better knowing that there was only one set of tracks leaving that place, but his gut was still clenched. It would stay that way until he found her.

* * *

Shane should have heeded his own advice. It hadn't taken Kit too long to slip her hands and wrists free, even with Shane's knot-tying abilities. (He was probably more accustomed to tying up people much bigger than her. However, it was also possible he had planned on her escape. She honestly didn't know considering it was very clear that Shane had gone off the deep end.) With that, she picked up her gun where he had left it – another stupid move on his part – and ran into the woods, collecting herself.

Shane had wished her good luck and as luck would have it, she heard two people lumbering through the woods like bears. She knew it wasn't Daryl, at least. Sure enough, Shane and Rick were wandering through the forest together 'looking for Randall'. So no one knew she was missing.

He had all but announced his plan to her: kill Rick. Well, she may not have been particularly fond of Rick, but she had failed to save Randall, so she figured she had to make that up in some way or another. Besides, even if he hadn't always treated Kit and Daryl right, he didn't deserve to die. Soon, the two men had left the woods where Kit kept herself safely hidden, until she saw Shane draw his gun. That was all she needed before she sent three bullets into his chest in quick succession.

Rick looked stunned, seeing Shane lying dead on the ground, but even more stunned to see Kit running at him with her rifle. He began crying a little, mourning the man who had once been his friend. "I had to do it," she said quietly. "He was going to kill you."

He nodded, still in shock. "I know. He planned to do it all along, didn't he? I figured that kid couldn't have taken him out – Shane was one tough son of a bitch. The kid wouldn't have stood a chance."

She stood there with him, allowing him to process what had happened, though it wasn't as if she wasn't a little shaken, too. She had just killed a man. A man she knew. "I wish it didn't have to happen this way," she whispered, feeling tears forming in her eyes, too. Walkers were one thing but a living, breathing person was another thing entirely.

Before too long, they heard a small voice yell "Dad?"

Shit, Carl was there and she was willing to bet he would not quite be able to grasp the situation in the same way she and Rick could. They began to make their way towards him, Rick trying to keep it together. "Carl, no, you should be back at home with mom." Then, the kid had his gun pointed at them.

"What the hell are you doing?" she cried. She had not spent the majority of the day fighting for her own life as well as Randall's and Rick's just to be gunned down by a fucking kid.

Then she heard it. The labored breathing that wasn't coming from either Rick or Carl or herself. She spun around and Shane's body was coming straight towards them. Her gun was raised instantly, about to take her shot when Shane's body dropped. Carl had taken him out.

He ran to Rick, hugging him and the exhaustion began to hit her. The sweat that had covered her body was enough to make even _her _cold in the cool night air, all the cuts, the bruises began to ache, not to mention the fact that she was probably dehydrated after wandering in the Georgian heat for so long.

She turned for only a second to glance behind her but that glance had been a lot more than she bargained for. "Holy fuck," she whispered. "Rick, Carl, we need to get out of here, now!"

Kit stayed close to the other two, sprinting to the barn with them. Under normal circumstances, she could have easily kept up with them, if not outrun them, but even with fresh adrenaline coursing through her system, her body had been put through hell that day and it was protesting in every way imaginable.

She held her rifle, ready to shoot anything that came at them as Rick and Carl spread the fluid through the barn. Unlike Carl, she didn't need to be told twice to climb the ladder, but also unlike Carl, she had her gun trained on the walkers headed towards Rick. If one of them got too close, they would be on the ground faster than Rick would even be able to process.

Once the barn was on fire and they were on the roof Kit asked "Got any bright ideas, Sheriff?" Then she saw the R.V. "Looks like someone has come to save our sorry asses."

She jumped onto it, wanting to find Daryl as soon as possible so he would know she wasn't dead. God, he would be a mess right now, just like she would be if he had been missing for this long. Covering Rick and Carl while they were climbing down, she heard screams coming from inside the Winnebago. There was no way Jimmy was alive so she hauled ass into the woods with the other two; if nothing else, she was in her element. Now she went slightly ahead of the two Grimes', because she was a hell of a lot better at navigating the woods than either of them. Plus, this way, they could watch her feet and see which branches and logs they should avoid.

They had looped around to the house when Kit saw a walker approaching Herschel and dropped the fucker. He turned around and noticed the group of three.

"Did you see Lori?" Rick asked.

"No! All I know is that they keep coming!" the other man responded.

Kit's minivan was gone, probably used to ram walkers or something along those lines, so she and Rick grabbed Herschel, dragging him to one of the only cars left. She immediately turned the keys in the ignition and got them the fuck out of there. (Rick, through his association with Lori, was not to be trusted behind the wheel of a car in her opinion.)

* * *

Daryl went into the house, expecting Kit but not finding her anywhere. "Rick and Shane ain't back? Kit neither? We heard a shot."

"Maybe they found Randall," Lori suggested.

"Nah, we found Randall an' he's a walker."

"But there weren't any bites," Glenn explained, still uncomprehending of how that could be true.

"Thing is," Daryl started, feeling a panic beginning to set in. "Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other an' Shane's no tracker." The next tidbit was what scared the shit out of him. "We found a third set of tracks, too, probably belongin' ta someone smaller than Shane or Randall. I figured they was Kit's but we followed 'em and it looked like she got away so we thought she would be back here. Shane and Randall were with each other a while 'fore the third set came in by the looks of it. Pretty sure Kit jumped him tryin' ta save the kid. If she ain't back, then somethin's wrong."

"Could you please try to find Shane and Rick and figure out what's going on?" Lori asked.

"I'm findin' Kit, too. Somethin' tells me she went after Shane again an' this time, I would not like his odds."

He stepped out the door to see the biggest fuckload of walkers imaginable heading straight for the house from the woods. Kit had been out in those woods and she was good, but no one was that good. He prayed to every god imaginable that she had just climbed into a damn tree – her old style.

Once the plan to defend the farm was hatched, Daryl took the challenge. If Kit was dead, he figured he couldn't be too far behind. With every walker he took down, it meant one of two things: either he was giving Kit one less walker to worry about, or he was taking out one of the fuckers had killed her. Either way, it felt good. Still, he knew it would be impossible to take care of all of them – there were too damn many.

He waited and waited, thinking that if he stayed there, Kit might find him. Then he heard a woman's screams, finding Carol as the source. Waiting for Kit any longer would be suicide so once Carol was on his bike he was out of there. Even his Zen wasn't doing him a whole lot of good, now so all he could do was repeat a mantra in his head: Kit is a tough little bitch; she'll get out of this.


	14. Chapter 14

The sky was becoming gray in the early morning light when Kit turned to Rick. "Where do we go? I can't just continue to drive aimlessly." Besides, she was on a very important mission to find her redneck.

"Go back to the highway," he told her. "That's the only spot everyone would think to go to."

When they climbed out of the car and found no one else there, Carl became upset. "She's not here; you said she'd be here! We have to go back for her, it's mom."

Kit had had a _very _long day and a _very _long night so any patience she might have mustered for Carl was gone. "If your mom is still on that farm, then she's dead. This is our only option right now, kid, so keep your fucking voice down and wait." Rick shot her an angry look, clearly not appreciating the way she had talked to his son, but the death glare she sent him back dared him to say something.

When Carl left to sulk, Herschel turned to Rick and Kit. "We've got to get Carl to safety."

"I don't think this place is any more dangerous than anywhere else we could go." Kit would not leave this spot until she was sure Daryl wasn't going to try and meet her there. Nothing could kill a Dixon but a Dixon – she knew this, but it did nothing to relieve her anxiety.

"You and I can wait here for the others," Herschel assured her. "But Rick needs to get his boy to safety."

"We stick together," Rick declared. "I'm not splitting the group again." Kit couldn't help but think to herself that they really hadn't been much of a 'group' to begin with. Rather, they were more akin to a handful of groups thrown together who happened to overlap in a few places.

After an hour of waiting and dodging walkers, Herschel turned to Kit and Rick again. "I don't know how much longer we can stay here."

"So we should leave without knowin' if my wife, your daughters or Kit's…Daryl are alive?"

Before Rick could say much else, Kit heard the familiar sound of Daryl's motorcycle and burst into tears when she saw him pull up. "Daryl!"

He was off his bike as fast as possible. "Christ, Kit!"

They had never held each other so tight before and she let her tears roll freely, not giving a damn who saw. "You scared the shit outta me, woman!" he told her in between kissing every single inch of her face, leaning down to do so.

"I didn't know if I would ever see you again."

Other vehicles began to pull up but Kit and Daryl were blind to them, holding each other as if to confirm that the other was indeed alive. Before too long, he noticed the marks on her wrists from the previous day. "That son of bitch hurt you," he growled. "I will kill that fuck."

"He's dead, Daryl."

He softened a little, seeing that she had apparently taken his death hard. "I found the trail," he said quietly. "Jesus, why'd you go after him yourself?"

"I didn't realize at first that he was going to kill Randall. Shane wasn't trying to kill me, though."

"If tha' wadn't enough ta scare me shitless, then I see that fuckin' herd come rollin' through, knowin' you was in those woods."

"I'm sorry," she said. "It wasn't supposed to go as far as it did with Shane."

By now everyone else had been reunited with their families, if they had one, and Rick shook Daryl's hand. "How did you find all of them?"

"Saw that kid's tail lights zig-zaggin' all over the road. Figured it had ta be an Asian drivin' like that."

Kit laughed and Glenn went up to hug her, glad his last friend from the quarry had made it, despite what he and Daryl had found. "So where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked.

"This is it," Rick said gravely.

"Shane didn't make it?" Lori asked.

A growl began to escape from Daryl before Kit hugged his arm, telling him that now was not the time to discuss what had happened with Shane. She looked around and didn't see the other blonde woman with them. "Andrea?"

"She saved me and then I lost her," Carol said.

Other names began to be thrown around, Jimmy, Patricia. "Was she still alive when anyone last saw her?" Kit asked, nearly inaudibly.

When nobody came up with a real answer, Daryl decided to take the initiative. If Kit wanted Andrea, then he would get Andrea. "We gotta go back fer her."

"No," Kit told him firmly. "Andrea isn't stupid. If she's still alive, then she's long gone and you can't go after her."

"Kit," Beth told her gently. "I've got somethin' for ya."

Kit turned to see Beth had rescued Bernie from the house. "Oh my god, I didn't think he'd made it. You took the time to save him?" Beth nodded, which earned her a bone crushing hug from Kit before she took Bernie.

When they began discussing the fact that they needed to move, Kit headed over to her minivan and pulled out two of the stowaway seats. The fewer cars they drove the better and Kit knew she belonged with Daryl on his motorcycle, so she made room for the Greene family in her van. "Glenn, I want you to take the mom-mobile with the Greenes. That way, Beth can still look after Bernie." The only other car held Carol, T-Dog and the Grimes family.

She didn't have a great deal of experience on motorcycles, but sitting behind Daryl and wrapping her arms around him, she felt no anxiety. She would miss Andrea and Dale terribly, but if she had Daryl, she would be alright.

LINE

Before too long, Rick's car needed gas and it appeared as if they would be spending the night. "I'm freezing," Carl said before Rick gave his son his jacket.

"You must be, too," Daryl said, turning to Kit.

She appeared confused. "Not particularly." Then she realized that Daryl would feel more comfortable seeing her put on something with longer sleeves and decided that she could give him that, at the very least. "I'll change into something warmer, later. Until then, I'm fine in my t-shirt. We'll have to be careful if we're going to gather firewood."

"How ya doin' on ammo?" Daryl asked Rick.

"Not enough. We'll set up a perimeter and get supplies in the morning."

"I still have a few supplies left in my car," Kit told them. "I can make a run with Daryl, too, if need be."

"Like hell," Daryl protested. "You ain't eaten or slept since yesterday mornin' an' you ain't had much water, neither. You ain't goin' on a run till you've had a decent night's sleep and some food. Otherwise ya won't be able ta see straight ta shoot."

"We stick together!" Rick told them harshly. As he started talking about getting a place to fortify, Kit and Daryl gave each other dubious looks. Rick wasn't thinking straight if he thought there was a safe place to spend the night anywhere near here.

Daryl figured now was as good a time as any to discuss what had happened the previous day. "We found Randall, ya know. He was a walker but he wadn't bit."

"What the hell happened?" Lori asked.

Daryl glared at her. "Shane killed Randall, just like he always wanted to an' then left Kit in the woods ta die when she went after him." Even just mentioning Shane's name caused Daryl to gravitate towards her.

"So what? The herd got him?" It seemed that Lori was the queen of not seeing what was right in front of her.

Kit didn't exactly want to admit to her deeds from the previous night, but Rick saved her ass. "We're all infected," he announced.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"Whatever this disease is, we all carry it."

The others got disgusted looks on their faces but Kit only grimaced once. It made perfect sense that they would be carriers. Once everyone had yelled at Rick and he stalked off for an angst-fest, Daryl turned to Kit. "You can't be alright with this."

"I'm not too concerned about the fact he didn't mention we're carriers. What worries me is that he may make other executive decisions that I _don't _like."

"Do ya understand this whole 'carrier' thang?"

She nodded. "Enough. It means that we, to some extent, have immunity to the disease – though this clearly doesn't apply if we're bitten or scratched. It also means that if we come into contact with someone who's been cut off completely from all of this, there's a chance we could accidentally infect them," she informed him gravely. "The more immediate concern is that should one of us die, we'll come back as a walker if left alone. I saw it happen to Shane."

"Damn, Dex. All that?" Daryl could see she was calm about the 'carrier thing' but her face had begun to grow a little dark, no doubt thinking about Rick. "Come on, let's find somethin' a little warmer for ya. I think even yer hot blood could get a little cold tanight if ya don't change."

She nodded, her mind still reflecting on Rick.

LINE

That night, Daryl sat next to Kit who had created a really nice fire. "I've made this one extra hot for you Georgian pussies," she joked, trying to keep everyone's moods from growing as dark as hers. Daryl pushed himself into closer into her, wondering what they should do, though it was also due to the amount of heat she was giving off – still a furnace.

"He's only bringing you down," Carol told him. "And I'm a burden. I want a man of honor."

"Rick has honor," Daryl told her. "An' he's done alright by me."

"Only since Dale's death," Kit reminded him.

"I say we should take our chances," Maggie said.

Kit shook her head slowly. "We should stay in a group, if possible. It increases the chance of survival." Herschel verbalized agreement with her. She turned her head close to Daryl and whispered so that only he could hear. "However, I do agree with Carol: I wouldn't complain if there was a change in leadership."

Rick went off on a rant and Kit quickly grew tired of it. "Calm the fuck down. There are ways of telling people not to go running off in the dark without making your voice hoarse."

"You would know about running off in the dark," he muttered. "It's how you killed Shane."

All eyes turned to her and she sent Rick a 'thanks for nothing' look. "You killed Shane?" Carl asked her.

Kit nodded, trying to find the exact right words to approach this touchy situation with. "You all seem to forget he left me for dead in the woods. However, believe it or not, killing Shane had nothing to do with my own feelings for him, nor did I take _any _pleasure from it. I found Rick and Shane shortly after I escaped from where Shane had left me tied up. Shane was going to kill Rick – had his gun pointed right at him – so I shot him."

Looks of disbelief and anger continued to spread through the group causing Daryl to wrap his arm around Kit protectively. As far as he was concerned, the bastard had it coming. However, Rick came to Kit's rescue in a way as he continued his rant, talking about how Shane had compromised the group. "He staged the whole Randall thing and led me into the woods to put a bullet in my back. My hands are clean and so are Kit's. If you think yer better off on your own, then go ahead and see how far you get."

While Rick went on and on, Kit thought to herself that his crazy was showing; yelling at a group of terrified people wasn't helping anyone, least of all Rick. "Get one thing straight: this isn't a democracy."

When he stalked off the rest of the group looked at him, realizing what he was capable of and Kit certainly didn't want to be tied to Rick at the moment, but some in the group were giving her mirror looks. "I didn't want to do it," she told them quietly.

"We all know you hated him," Lori spat.

"Believe it or not, Shane and I had a long talk the day that Dale died. During that talk we formed a sort of truce which is why he wasn't an asshole during the discussion that night. Shane and I would never have agreed on anything, or ever liked each other, but I didn't hate him and I think he thought of me along similar lines. If nothing else, we had an understanding. I didn't pull the trigger until I saw him pointing his gun at Rick. Don't you dare insinuate that I wanted to kill him."

Most of the group appeared to believe her and seemed sympathetic, except for Lori.

"Come on, Dex, let's get some sleep." Daryl and Kit leaned up against one of the walls together. "We're gonna get through this."

LINE

Weeks had passed since they had left the farm and the group began to settle in some interesting and unexpected ways. At the moment, Rick was standing in the road, everyone staring at him, expecting him to make a decision. (He had been making all the decisions, lately. After all, it wasn't a democracy.)

Suddenly he barked "Herschel, Daryl, Kit, come with me."

The three gave each other confused looks as they followed Rick away from the group. "Now we've got two options on where ta go next. One has more supplies, but the other is probably safer an' I don't know which one to pick."

Daryl looked at the map carefully. "If we go ta the town with the supplies first, then it'll be easier ta swing ta the other one."

"Besides," Kit added "If we grab and go with the supplies, then when we get to the other town, we'll have both. And if things get crazy, we could get out pretty easily. We'd just have to keep the number of people who leave the vehicles to a minimum."

"It sounds like we have a plan," Herschel agreed.

"Who should leave the cars for the raid?" Rick asked, wanted to be as strategic as possible.

"Kit an' I aren't likely ta screw things up, so we should probably go," Daryl said.

"Glenn is good at getting in and out quickly, so we should probably take him and maybe Maggie. You and Herschel should stay with the rest of the group and be ready to run if need be."

Rick gave the three of them a curt nod before heading back to the group to relay the information.

"Looks like our promotions still stands," Daryl observed. He figured that between him, Herschel, Rick and Kit, they were bound to come to the best decisions possible.

"I guess. We'll see how long it lasts."

The cars were parked on the main road of the small town, Kit, Daryl, Maggie and Glenn beginning to search the stores in pairs; no one went anywhere alone anymore. Every few stops or so through the different buildings, the pairs would quickly return to the cars, drop off what they had scavenged and go on to the next building.

Daryl and Kit had made their way close to the end of the main road and she was looking intently at the stores, trying to find a useful one when she felt Daryl wrench her away and they began running. She didn't ask questions when he brought her to a tree and barked "Climb!"

Once they had reached some of the higher branches, she saw what had spooked him: another herd, just as large as the one at the farm. They could see that everyone else had made it back to the cars but no one knew where they were and soon the group couldn't wait any longer, abandoning the town, leaving Kit and Daryl stranded.

LINE

Once the herd had passed through without noticing Kit and Daryl, they climbed down from the tree and Daryl couldn't help but quip "Remind you of old times, Dex?"

She rolled her eyes, relaxing now that the immediate threat had passed. "What do we do now?"

"I remember where tha' town is, the one tha' Rick said was supposed ta be pretty safe. Thas where they'll probably go so I say we follow 'em 'cause I intend ta get the hell outta this place. Walkers sure as hell ain't the only things that'll come through here an' we ain't gonna be here when they do. We stay off the main roads an' we head towards tha' town."

Kit was beyond happy that Daryl was with her because she couldn't navigate Georgia worth shit. She would never get lost in the woods but she couldn't remember the locations of towns or keep track of roads at all. "How long will it take?"

"'Bout two weeks, give or take. Thas assumin' we ain't runnin' the whole way. Don't worry, we'll get there."

"I'm actually not worried at all," she mused. "In fact, I think this could be a nice vacation."

"Vacation?" he scoffed. "Travelin' through the woods ain't gonna be no picnic, even if we do got a few supplies stashed away in tha' pack of yers."

"What I mean is that we get a break from everyone. We wanted to leave the group back on the farm so now we at least get a taste of that. Besides, I've been getting sick of the way Lori and Carl have been looking at me since the farm disaster – you would think I was Satan in the flesh."

Daryl hadn't thought of it that way and the idea of two weeks alone with Kit, walkers or no walkers, sounded like the best damn vacation in the whole world. He wouldn't have to put up with Rick acting crazy, either. "You gotta point, Dex."

"I know," she replied with a smile. "Now let's begin our vacation, Griz."

**A/N: I'm going to do a series of oneshots before I move on to season three. It'll probably be four or five chapters before they reach the prison but I hope that you enjoy the time in between the second and third seasons :) Also, there have been a few requests that Kit and Daryl get some time away from the group so here you go.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Ya sure ya ain't cold?"

Kit shook her head with a smile. "If it makes you feel any better, I can break out a jacket when we're back with the group." At the mention of the group, she began laughing.

"What's so damn funny?"

"I was just thinking about them trying to start a fire tonight," she explained, gesturing to the pouring rain outside the window of the barn she and Daryl were holed up inside.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Ain't no one there very good at startin' fires."

They, personally, had opted out of a fire because they didn't want to draw any walkers towards the barn if they couldn't help it, especially without a large group. Daryl couldn't perceive a difference, though, since he and Kit were sharing a sleeping bag.

The next morning they came upon a somewhat small town, well off any main roads or highways which gave the two hope for a raid. After looking through the small pharmacy and other obvious places, Kit turned her attention to a reasonably large camping store.

"I don't think there will be too much left there, Dex. I know that it ain't likely many groups have come through here, but the folks in this town probably wiped it clean."

"Maybe, but I'm willing to bet they didn't take everything. They would have been in a hurry – only looking for the obvious things like tents and sleeping bags and not all of them would have been really experienced with camping. We might find something. Besides, I doubt anyone would have taken arrows, if there were any in there," she added with a smirk.

They hadn't been in there too long before Kit found what she was looking for. "Hey, Griz, I think we hit the jackpot." Sure enough, she had come across a hoard of arrows that could bring someone like Daryl to tears of joy.

While he began packing them away and digging through the rest of the hunting section, Kit found something else useful left on the shelf by most other people: water purifiers. She grabbed a handful of them and put them in her pack, thinking about the joys of not having to boil water anymore and the time it could save. Apart from that, she found a few other small-ticket items that were useful nonetheless such as some wool socks and a flashlight.

Daryl, for his part, found some bandanas and buffs the group would undoubtedly appreciate. "I think the bandana look suits you," she told him as she playfully wrapped one around his neck like a scarf.

"Well, I think this suits you," he retorted, putting a hat on her head – a beanie.

"I guess we are just two damn fine looking people," she sighed. "Whatever shall everyone else do about it? They can neither have us nor be us," she added dramatically.

They still hadn't encountered any stray walkers, thankfully, while they were leaving the store, when Kit noticed something interesting. All other non-perishable food items had been taken but for some reason or another, the store's 'Hammer' products had been left untouched. All the gels, all the powders, just waiting to be taken. "We really did hit the jackpot, Griz," she mused.

He looked it over, trying to figure out what it was, but it seemed like the kind of shit that wouldn't expire very quickly. "So this is athletic shit?"

She nodded. "The gels don't taste very good but I never tried the powders. It certainly isn't perfect but if I'm hungry I'll eat this shit. It has a lot of carbs, too, which is good because you look like you've dropped about ten pounds since the quarry."

"You callin' me scrawny?" he asked, as they both loaded up on the 'Hammer'.

"No, but we all need to keep an eye on our weights – the men, Lori and Carl especially. Men lose weight a lot faster than women not to mention we're much better at storing and keeping fat paired with the fact that we need less food. Plus, Lori was too thin even before this whole mess started so she needs to put on weight and do it fast."

"Nice ta know yer thinkin' 'bout this shit. I do know one thang, though: we gotta make sure we've got vitamins and shit like that. Not just fer her but 'cause I don't plan on getting' scurvy anytime soon. It don't sound too pleasant."

"And they say you aren't an educated man, Mr. Dixon," she said, putting on a mock southern accent.

He rolled his eyes before playfully shoving her towards the door, wanting to get away from the town as soon as possible and get off the road. But, his eyes wandered to a pawn shop across the street, beginning to go in that direction. Kit was about to ask him what the hell they could find in a pawn shop when she figured it out herself. They had no clue what they could possibly find in there, which was why they needed to check it out.

"I'm hoping they have some sort of badass sword," he explained when they entered.

However, their plans were delayed when they encountered a handful of walkers in the store. Neither Kit nor Daryl too were concerned, though, easily taking care of them before returning their attention to the pawn shop, finding very little that was useful.

There were a handful of antique guns, though there was no ammo to go with them so they opted not to take them. He and Kit were about to leave when he noticed something that caused the sides of his mouth to come up a little. "Kit, I think Christmas came early fer ya." She raised her eyebrows curiously at him before he showed her the knives he had found that were perfect for throwing. "Tell ya what, if we find a safe place ta practice, I'll teach ya the basics."

She kissed him as a thank you for spotting the knives and as a down payment for them, planning on paying those off in full if they had some time on the trip. Privacy was now a luxury that they could afford and she was going to take advantage of it if she could.

* * *

They were about halfway to meeting Rick and the others when Daryl and Kit encountered their fourth herd since the apocalypse.

Making their way through the Georgian woods, carrying Daryl's catch of the day, they hadn't been expecting anything out of the ordinary. Then, they both heard a branch snap and their heads whipped back, seeing only the bare beginnings of what they knew would be hundreds of walkers coming down on them. Abandoning the dead animals as a distraction for the dead, they sprinted through the woods because Daryl had spotted something not far ahead: a small cabin.

When they wrenched the door open, they had not expected to see someone else inside but with little choice but to stay, Kit slammed the door behind them, hoping that it wouldn't turn into a shooting match.

"Who the hell are you people?" the older man cried.

"We don't want no trouble, Old Man," Daryl said.

"You leeches are here for my supplies?"

"No," Kit assured him, easing down Daryl's crossbow so he would know they weren't threatening him. "There's a herd of walkers outside and we just need a place to stay until they're gone. We have our own supplies and we can share some in exchange for staying the night."

"Walkers…the dead people?" When Kit nodded, the man took a peek through his curtains, still not trusting the pair, though she certainly couldn't blame him. "That's a lot of them," he said numbly.

"Yeah, and we don't wanna get caught up in the middle of that. This'll be the fourth time, now," Daryl informed him. "Like I said, we don't want no trouble."

"Well," the older man sighed "I don't think I'm too eager to open the door right now. I guess if I'm going to be killed, I would rather it be by human beings."

"We ain't gonna pull nothin'," Daryl insisted.

"My name is Kit Eldridge," Kit introduced herself, holding out her hand.

"Zach Coleman," he replied, nervously taking her hand. "And you?" he asked Daryl.

"Daryl Dixon." He shook the man's hand, as well, placing his crossbow on the floor as a show of his intent. "This yer place, or are ya jus' holed up here?"

"I've owned this cabin for fifty years now," Coleman said proudly, almost haughtily.

"Want some food?" Kit asked. "It's not exactly fine cuisine, but we can share." Coleman nodded, seeing it as a fair trade. She pulled some jerky that Daryl had made out of her pack, along with their last few power bars.

"Well, you two certainly aren't living in the lap of luxury," he surmised.

"Our group ain't gonna have an easy winter," Daryl informed him.

"Group?" Coleman replied frantically.

"Relax," Daryl groaned. "We ain't exactly the Roman army. There're only eleven of us an' most of 'em can't fight worth shit."

"That's still ten more than me."

"You're alone?" Kit asked, having difficulty believing that anyone could make it this far without others to support you and keep you sane.

"In case you hadn't noticed, this cabin is pretty isolated. There haven't been too many dead people walking by until now that the 'herd' as you call it is passing through. I'm alone, though I'm a little uneasy telling you two that."

"If we wanted ya dead, ya'd be dead by now," Daryl informed him, which didn't help to ease the tension in the room, or make Coleman less jumpy.

"He and his brother said the same thing to me at the beginning of the outbreak and he's kept his word so far. Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you." Kit was trying her best to calm the panicky man. "And you aren't helping," she scolded Daryl gently.

"So you've known each other since the outbreak?" Coleman asked.

Kit nodded. "For about four months, now. And as far as our group is concerned, Daryl's right that we aren't much of a threat: women – one of whom is pregnant – children, elderly." She didn't like calling Herschel elderly, but if it made Coleman feel better, then she could overcome those qualms.

"I was a sociologist before the outbreak so I guess I'm a little curious," he admitted. "How does your group work? How is it set up?"

Kit and Daryl glanced at each other, each drawing a blank as far as how to explain their group's situation. "We're in the process of a transition," Kit replied vaguely. "To be quite honest, we're still trying to figure those questions out for ourselves."

"What about leadership?"

"Well, Rick says he's the leader an' that it ain't a democracy, but he's been consultin' me, Kit, an' Herschel lately an' he's listenin'. Thas abou' all we know."

"So you two are part of the leadership, in some way or another?"

"Or another," Kit replied. "Like I said, we're in transition. We were living on a farm together until about a month ago and there were sixteen of us, then. Leadership and group roles have been shuffling since."

"Care to explain the shuffling?" Coleman asked.

The pair weren't exactly eager to be discussing their group's situation, but Coleman was allowing them to spend the night so they decided to play ball. "Well, from the quarry up 'til last month Kit an' I wadn't exactly the people Rick was lookin' to fer advice."

"Back then, Shane, Dale and Lori had the better part of his ear," she continued cautiously. "Only one of them was someone Rick should have listened to.

"And?" Coleman asked, wanting more information.

Maybe he was bored, Kit pondered. Group drama would have been pretty exciting to someone living alone, especially a sociologist. "Well," she said quietly. "Dale died the night before we left the farm, killed by a walker. Shane wasn't really much of an option anymore and as far as I can tell, Rick and Lori have had some sort of falling out. Herschel replaced Dale, Daryl replaced Shane and I guess I replaced Lori, though only in some respects thankfully."

"So five died in the twenty-four hours before you left the farm?"

Daryl nodded. "More or less. Dale first – killed by the one walker. Then the herd came through and they killed Jimmy and Patricia for sure. We lost Andrea at some point in the mess an' we don't know if she's alive. Shane died, too," he added, linking his hand in Kit's, trying to ease the mention of him for her. (His death still weighed on her, even if it had been necessary.)

"I guess everyone has lost someone," Coleman sighed, but not before noticing the contact between Kit and Daryl.

"Most everyone in the group has. Andrea lost her sister, 'fore she went missin' – Amy was all she had, far as family goes. The Greene's lost their mother, their stepbrother, Jimmy, Otis and Patricia, so they was hit hard. Carol, T-Dog, Glenn, an' Kit lost their whole families. Ma brother's missin'. The only ones who ain't lost their family is Rick's family, 'less ya count Shane, which I don't. Rick's got his wife an' son."

"So your group has had entire families in it."

Kit leaned up against Daryl, trying to forget the losses they had all sustained. "The group has been shuffling almost constantly since we left our first campsite," Kit explained. "People dying, leaving, and joining us."

"I'm assuming you two have paired up," Coleman said, a little bit severe.

"Yes," Kit said firmly. "We aren't the only ones, either. Glenn and Maggie paired up, too." That was only counting the more permanent pairs – not the flings Shane had had with Lori and Andrea.

"Is there a twenty year difference between Glenn and Maggie?" Coleman asked harshly.

"No, but Daryl and I are fourteen years apart, if you're asking." A dark look began to pass over Daryl's face and Kit squeezed his hand. The age difference was a sore spot for both of them but Daryl was particularly sensitive about it so most people in the group, especially Kit, tried not to bring the subject up. She glared at the older man, wishing the night would be over as soon as possible so she and Daryl could leave.

Coleman saw that he had crossed a line so he ended his questioning for the night.

"I'll take watch for a while," Kit told Daryl before whispering "Get some sleep" and kissing him on the cheek. He looked like he was about to protest when Kit threw a blanket at him, making her point clear. He took watch too often anyway and was out like a light.

She peeked out the curtain for a second, seeing that there were still quite a few walkers milling around outside, but figured they'd be gone or mostly gone by morning. She sat down on the floor, beginning to relax a little. "I still think he's too old for you." Coleman had apparently not gone to sleep.

"I'm an adult – that's my decision to make."

"I wouldn't have wanted me daughter to be involved with a man who was fifteen years older than her." Kit looked at him in shock and began to realize why the old man was alone. "The people in your group are not the only ones who have lost their families."

She understood what it meant to lose your family but she couldn't tolerate the judgment he exerted on her and Daryl. "Daryl is my family now," she said resolutely.

"In what ways?" Coleman scoffed. "Because you sleep together?"

The old man had absolutely no sense of boundaries. "No. We're family because we protect, look out for, care for and understand each other. And it's been that way since almost day one. I'm his first priority and he is mine." Coleman seemed surprised that it didn't appear to be just about the sex. "I've seen some people pair up for the sex, but it isn't that way with us. It's not like we get a great deal of privacy, anyway, staying close to the group."

"So you're trying to meet up with them again?"

"As difficult as it is to hear myself saying this: yes. Right before the disaster on the farm, he and I were going to leave the group."

Now Coleman looked truly surprised. "You really hated them that much?"

Kit shook her head sadly. "Daryl and I liked most of them, still like most of them, but there were leadership issues and other personal issues that weren't going away. We still have some of those problems, but they're beginning to fix themselves. In fact, I think that in a matter of weeks, the whole group might start acting like a family."

Coleman stared at his feet uncomfortably. "I realize I haven't given you much reason to like me, but I have been thinking that I would like to be a part of a group again. It seems like you're decent enough people, even if you all have your issues. I don't want to be alone anymore."

Kit had to admit that Coleman was right in that she wasn't especially eager to bring him back with her and Daryl, but she also remembered how she had felt before she had met the Dixon brothers. Being completely alone in the world, no matter how short the time period, was the most forlorn experience a person could ever have. "I suppose you could walk with us tomorrow and we'll see where it goes from there," she allowed. "No one can make it alone anymore."

"Thank you," he told her with complete sincerity. "You two can both sleep. I'll be up tonight making preparations, anyway."

* * *

Daryl didn't appear happy about the arrangements that had been made when he woke up the following morning, but his objections fell when Kit gave him a pleading look. The old man didn't say another word about him being too old for Kit again, though, so if that pattern continued then Daryl would tolerate him.

Unfortunately, Coleman didn't have the stamina that Kit or Daryl had, especially in the cold weather with the wet leaves dripping onto him. "We ain't gotta problem stoppin'," Daryl told him. "We got somethin' ta take care of, anyway."

He pulled out the throwing knives, bringing a warm smile to Kit's face while they wandered a ways away from Coleman and Daryl began to teach her the basics.

"Yer not exactly a deadeye with those things," Daryl observed.

She huffed with frustration. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to _make _myself a marksman with them. All I need is some practice."

After about ten more minutes of pure vexation, she finally managed to hit the tree she had been aiming for, giving a triumphant smirk as she did so. "God, yer beautiful." And she was in his opinion. Not just because she was beginning to catch on to the knives, but all the time.

"You only like me for my shooting skills," she playfully accused him before kissing him. "And by the way, you're pretty easy on the eyes yourself. I'm really lucky, you know. I could never do any better than you." She meant that more than she could possibly say.

She saw as a dazed expression crossed his face – he hadn't been expecting her to say that. Even if he would never tell her, he had really needed what she had said. There were often days when he believed that she would have been better off with someone like Glenn, not that she had ever implied it in any way. (What Coleman had said the previous night had done nothing to alleviate Daryl's insecurities, either.) Maybe they were both still a little stunned that they of all people had been so compatible. All he could do in response was kiss the top of her head before allowing her to continue practicing.

Still, that response felt inadequate to him. "I love ya," he told her self-consciously. "I don't care what any geezer or anyone else has ta say 'bout it."

Now it was her turn to have been rendered speechless while he waited tensely for some kind of response. He _had _hoped she knew he loved her already; though he had never outright said it, he always made his best attempts to show it.

She dropped the knives and threw her arms around him before giving him a real kiss. "I love you, too. So much."

They soaked in the moment as best they could, as others like it were so few and far between – especially since they would be meeting up with the group in less than a week.

* * *

They were no more than a couple miles away from where Kit and Daryl hoped the group was still waiting for them. Although the trip had been physically taxing for Coleman, he had done his damnedest to keep up with the other two. Now, he was beginning to trail just a little bit behind them which proved to be deadly.

Daryl heard the screams before he had heard the walker approaching them from behind so when he turned around, it was already ripping into the older man. Kit threw a knife and actually managed to take down the walker – which was more of a freak accident than a testament to her skill with the new weapons – but by that time it was too late. Coleman was bleeding out on the ground.

The pair rushed to him, realizing before they even got there that he couldn't be helped or saved. Daryl put an arrow through the poor bastard's head, doing the deed that would prevent Coleman from becoming a walker.

There was no time to think long on his death. His pack was collected – no reason to just leave it there – and they made their way quickly to the town Rick had talked with them about. When they arrived, they saw that arrows had been spray painted throughout the town, alerting Kit and Daryl which directions the group had gone in. Eventually, all the arrows pointed to one house, where T-Dog was standing guard.

"You guys get stranded and you still save our asses by collecting all this shit!" Glenn cried, relieved to see them. "I can't believe you found water purifiers." Rick shook hands with them, acknowledging his happiness that they were back in his own way.

As the others all expressed their happiness that the two once-outsiders had returned Kit and Daryl didn't mention where the supplies in one of the packs had come from. It was strange, though, how much easier it was to face the death of someone who was little more than a stranger to them.

"We've been tryin' ta map out the paths of the different herds and I was hopin' you two could help me out," Rick said. "That way, we can figure out where we head next."

* * *

That night, Daryl was leaned up against a wall, Kit sleeping against him, when Rick sat to have a quiet conversation. "So you two are stayin'? I didn't know whether or not we should wait for you."

Daryl regarded him carefully, wondering where Rick was going with this. "Yeah, we're stayin'."

"Good, cause we had some…difficulties while you were gone."

This caused Daryl to give out a quiet snort, trying not to wake the sleeping woman leaned against him. "We laughed our asses off a few times, thinkin' 'bout ya'll tryin' ta make fires an' shit like tha'."

"Glad to know we gave you some humor," Rick replied sardonically. "But it's good you're stayin'. And just so you know, you two do belong here, just as much as anyone."

**A/N: So a lot of the chapters between the second and third season are going to be of a fluffier nature, sort of the way this one was. That said, please let me know if it becomes too fluffy for your tastes and let me know if you notice that I am writing anyone OOC. Also, please keep in mind that the next few chapters are going to happen over the span of a number of months so if it feels like things are leaping forward pretty quickly, it's because I may have skipped over a few months.**


	16. Chapter 16

Winter had truly begun and while the group registered this through time – it was late December – and through the amount of daylight they got, more than anything they registered that winter had begun because Kit was finally beginning to wear a jacket, though she had been wearing a beanie fairly regularly since she and Daryl had returned from their 'vacation'. (They could also have their position in northwestern Georgia to thank for the colder weather.) The passage of time did nothing to make things easier for the group but only served to make their lives harder. Now, more than ever, they were beginning to realize that they would probably not be able to stay in one place for more than a couple of days at a time.

On this particular day they were staying in a barn that wasn't dissimilar to the one Kit and Daryl had shared alone weeks ago. This time, though, it was colder, they had more people to feed and their numbers meant they were more likely to be found by walkers. At least by now Bernie had learned that he should never leave the sight of the group. He had become more Beth's pet than Kit's ever since the farm which was fair given how ill-equipped Kit was to look after him. She and Daryl made runs or went on hunting trips almost constantly which – when paired with everything else they had to do – left very little time for Bernie. Kit could accept this, simply content with the fact that he was alive.

Rick now approached the pair with an assignment they wouldn't like. "I need to two to split up today. Kit, you're the best at makin' fires so I need you to get wood and whatever else you'll need in the woods while Daryl – "

"Bullshit," Daryl barked. "I ain't goin' nowhere without her ta back me up. We always go together. 'Sides, it's 'bout the only privacy we get anymore."

Kit wasn't quite as blunt. "If you need two trips to be made then Daryl and I can do them both," she suggested, trying to appease the two hotheads.

"No," Rick insisted. "We need a fire as soon as possible and we need someone ta go on a run before it gets dark. Like I said, Kit's the best at makin' fires so she needs to gather what she needs in the woods. But, since you two are the best at runs, I would feel better knowin' one of you was headin' into town. You can both pick whoever you want to go with you but you gotta be split this once."

Neither Kit nor Daryl was particularly happy about the arrangement, but they accepted it. "Take Carol with you," Kit told him. "She isn't helpless anymore, she knows pretty well what we need from town and most importantly, I know she isn't going to piss you off."

"Ya should take Glenn. He saved ma ass in the woods once, so he won't fall down on the job. Plus, I know he ain't gonna piss _you _off since he's yer friend. Though, of your options ta take with ya, I guess none of them would piss ya off much anyway."

"I like Maggie and T-Dog, too. The only person who might want to go who I wouldn't want would maybe be Carl or Rick. Anyway, take care of yourself. I'll double-check Carol's list to see if there's anything she's missed." She kissed him before heading in the direction of the older woman.

"Hey Carol," she greeted her with a genuine smile. Carol had always been good to Kit and Daryl – especially since she had lost Sophia. "Would you mind going on a run with Daryl? Rick's splitting us up," she sighed irritably. Rick's leadership had been getting better in the past few months – she had to give him that – but that didn't mean he made the occasional irksome call.

"Of course. I'm guessin' I'll be the one shoppin' while he's totin' that crossbow around."

"Yep. He'll take care of you; just make sure you find anything useful. You got an idea of what we need?"

"Anythin' to help us smell like human beings, anythin' edible, and anythin' else that will help us survive. Did I miss anythin'?" By now, everybody in the group knew which essentials they were missing which was usually quite a few.

"Well," Kit admitted. "Contraceptives would be nice. We're out of birth control and more condoms wouldn't go amiss, either. Whatever you can find." Before the world had ended, Kit would not have felt comfortable having this discussion with someone, but the apocalypse and the tightness of the group changed things. The men had overcome their aversion to feminine hygiene products, everyone knew who was sleeping together and how often – all privacy and embarrassment completely eliminated.

"No problem, dear," Carol replied, without batting a lash.

* * *

Daryl and Carol were wandering the empty streets of the town back towards his bike, having finished the run without incident, when it began snowing. "Kit'll throw herself a party," Daryl said. "She's been missin' snow." (Apparently, in Montana, she had been accustomed to receiving snow by late October, or by Thanksgiving at the latest.)

Carol couldn't help but smile at the fact that the snow immediately made Daryl think of Kit. As she thought this, they passed a jewelry store and she noticed some rings in the display which roused her curiosity. "You sure are sweet on her Daryl," she noted with amusement, a plan already forming itself in her head.

"You bet your ass." Why wouldn't he be? As far as he was concerned he had landed the catch of the group in every manifestation it had seen from the quarry until now.

"So I guess you two ain't plannin' on splittin', then?"

"Hell no! 'Less she wants ta…" He started to get a terrified look on his face. "She didn't say nothin' did she? When you two was talkin' earlier?"

Carol shook her head. "Kit is every bit as sweet on you as you are on her," she told him with certainty. It was clear to everyone in the group how happy they were together. At least, as happy as anyone could be in the circumstances that the apocalypse created.

"Then what're ya goin' on 'bout?"

"I guess I was jus' wonderin' if ya wanted ta make it more official?"

"More official? How do ya get more official than lovin' the hell outta each other an' never wantin' ta leave her?" Carol nodded her head towards the jewelry store. "Ya can't be serious."

"You haven't even thought about it?"

"Hell no. Ain't no point in doin' it. Ain't no government gonna need ta know our marital status or nothin'. 'Sides, I don't think it's our style."

"I don't agree with you," Carol persisted. "There's a point in havin' some sort of ceremony. It shows commitment even if it ain't legally bindin' anymore. And I wouldn't be too sure that Kit would not be interested."

"Yer crazy," he scoffed. "We've only know each other what? Six months? An' we've only been together fer four or so. 'Sides, she's only twenty-one," he mumbled, hating to acknowledge their age difference.

"Now who's thinkin' 'bout the way things used to be? The world's changed. The six months you've spent together is more like years the way things are anymore; you've been through more together than most married couples ever experienced before all this. It ain't like you can keep any secrets from each other, either. It also don't matter whether someone's twenty-one or seventy years old anymore: we're all ancient. So stop tryin' ta think of excuses. If you love her an' you don't think you're ever going to stop, then show her now. You don't know what could happen tomorrow but you and I both know that loved ones can all too easily be taken from you."

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the trip but what she had said kept bouncing around in his head while Kit was curled up against him that night. _Marry _Kit? What had at first sounded crazy was beginning to make more and more sense. He knew her better than he had ever known anyone and he had certainly never lived with any woman for as long as he had with Kit – no competition. Hell, Kit probably knew him better than his own brother. Even Merlehadn't seen the scars that adorned his back. Most importantly, he was confident – beyond any shadow of a doubt – his feelings for her wouldn't change anytime soon.

They loved each other, so why not put on a ring to show it? Marriage didn't have to be the way it used to be, either. All they would do is put the rings on and go about their day normally because the rings were just a symbol that they had claimed each other and everyone should back the fuck off. That was all. So why was he sweating just thinking about it? Maybe because he was almost sure that Kit would say no.

* * *

The older woman gave him a knowing look the next morning. "I figured you would change your mind once you thought about it."

"Ya don't gotta look so damn smug 'bout it. I dunno what the hell I'm doin' with this shit an' I'll probably fuck it up."

"I'll help you," she told him good-naturedly. "We just need another excuse to go into town without Kit."

"That ain't gonna be easy. We don't like goin' nowhere without each other."

"Which is exactly the reason we're making this run in the first place," she reminded him with a smirk. "I think Maggie and I can arrange a distraction."

Daryl watched in awe and horror at how quickly the two women orchestrated their plan. Within minutes, Maggie had said something that left Glenn reeling and running to Kit for advice. Once Carol returned he couldn't help but say "Women scare me sometimes." At least Glenn had been manipulated for a good cause?

"Tell Rick we need to make another run into town and you'll be takin' me again because Kit's busy. And I think Maggie's more excited about this than I am," she added gleefully.

"So much for privacy," he grumbled.

Carol shrugged. "Apocalypse or no apocalypse – you would need help with this." Daryl hated admitting she was right, but she was. He didn't know shit when it came to this stuff. "You're lucky, though. I don't think Kit was the type to get worked up about this kind of thing even before the apocalypse. She ain't gonna want to make a fuss."

"I sure as hell hope not."

The abandoned jewelry store had been left more or less intact due to the simple fact that its contents served no purpose for survival. This did nothing to diminish how overwhelmed Daryl felt when he stepped inside. How the fuck could anyone navigate a place like this? Which type of ring was what? Carol, on the other hand, immediately found what they were looking for and pulled him in that direction. "Do you wanna pick or should I?"

He stared blankly at the rings. "Kit ain't gonna want nothin' flashy. Nothin' that's gonna get worn down real easy."

Knowing this, Carol picked out a pair of rings per his specifications. "This one should fit her about right. I'm guessin' on the size but she has pretty small fingers."

He looked the silver bands over, trying to decipher whether or not Kit would like them. "What're these made of anyway?"

"It said titanium," Carol told him. "You're not exactly going to be able to take care of them so I picked out something tough. She'll like them."

Daryl couldn't help but agree when he looked at them. They were a simple, dark grey and looked as if they could take a beating – a good thing when they would see a _lot _of wear and tear. "Dunno how exactly I'm gonna do this."

The look Carol gave him was one of an almost mocking nature. "You'll be fine."

Of that he was dubious but whether he would be fine or not he supposed there was no going back now.

* * *

Kit looked at Daryl and Carol curiously as they returned to the barn that night. "Two runs in two days? Didn't you get everything we needed yesterday?"

Carol immediately had a solution. "Well, we couldn't find the birth control pills, just the condoms, so I thought I would try again, but no luck," she fake-sighed.

"Oh, thanks." She was still giving them an odd look but appeared to buy the story. "I guess we'll have to make due." In truth, her odd look was probably warranted given how fidgety Daryl was whenever she looked at him.

Dinner passed as it usually did, the group making its normal chit-chat, becoming closer by the day. Afterwards, Kit looked as if she was going to settle in for the night but Daryl took her hand and pulled her out of the barn. "I think it'll snow again, tonight," he told her. "Thought ya might like ta see it."

Her face lit up at the suggestion of snow. "You know me too well, Mr. Dixon." She didn't act suspicious as they wandered through the dark trees, enjoying the cold night air, breath trailing behind her. "Besides, we haven't been seeing nearly enough of each other lately, Griz." She glanced up at one of the trees above them. "Feeling nostalgic?" she asked.

Kit had always had a thing for trees, Daryl thought to himself as the two of them climbed, completely immune to the cold. In her case it was due to her almost superhuman love for the cold while his immunity was due to the fact that his body was growing hot with nervousness. "The quarry seems like a lifetime ago," she commented sadly. "There were a lot of things about it that I hated, but I miss a lot of the people. Andrea, Dale, Amy, even Merle!"

"Ya can't actually miss ma brother."

"He was pretty funny," she said in Merle's defense. "I didn't hate talking to him, either. At least, I hated talking to him less than other people."

"I almost forgot that ya didn't say a word for more'n a week – didn't talk ta no one."

"Yeah…I'm glad that you and I talked, though."

"Me, too," he replied awkwardly. "I – uh – ya see – well." He eventually gave up trying to say anything before handing her the ring that he and Carol had picked out for her.

He saw her eyes narrow, trying to decipher exactly what it was he had given her before they grew wide with disbelief. "Is this a wedding ring?"

"Yeah…ya don't gotta say yes 'less ya want to or nothin'. I ain't expectin' anythin' I jus' thought…"

It took her a few moments to process what exactly was happening before slipping the ring onto her left hand. "I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess it makes sense." A look of surprise lit Daryl's face at her answer, which was a very sure yes. "Besides, I don't want any woman with wandering eyes to make the mistake of thinking that you are in any way available." Then, she added, seriously "I love you, Griz."

"Me too, Dex." He clumsily slipped his ring on, too, before Kit kissed him long and hard.

"This is perfect."

When they eventually wandered back to the barn, they drew attention, given how long they had been gone and the enormous, mirror grins on their faces. It didn't take the group long to gather what had occurred out in the woods, especially when they noticed the rings. This met Kit and Daryl with 'congratulations' from the rest of the group, as if their marriage had indeed been legally binding.

Herschel held up his bible. "Do you mind?" Neither Kit nor Daryl could be considered particularly religious but they nodded. "'There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.'" He smiled at them earnestly. "I hope that your love drives away some of the fear that has become ubiquitous in our lives."

"Thank you," Kit whispered, happy for the support she and Daryl received from the rest of the group.

That night, the pair retreated to the more private area of the barn they had claimed as their own a few days ago. Though, 'private' was loose term, given only a half-wall stood between them and the rest of the group. But, it was enough for the night.

"Not much of a honeymoon," Daryl said apologetically afterwards.

"We'll make up for it later when we get a room to ourselves," she replied with a smile. "Then we can be as loud as we want, not hold back. Still, I think we manage pretty well given our limiting circumstances."

"You ain't gonna regret the whole marriage thing in the mornin'?"

"Hardly," she snorted. "Besides, Herschel's quotation wasn't very far from the truth. I'm less afraid when I know you're with me. I trust you more than anyone else if I'm on a run and I sleep easier when you're next to me."

Daryl flinched at the accuracy of her statement. They didn't just like to take each other on runs because they liked each other's company or because they were both good shots. It was because they knew with absolute certainty that the other had their back. "I feel invincible with ya next ta me," he murmured.

Neither of them would trade the other for the world; maybe love hadn't changed as much as the rest of the world had.

**A/N: Okay, I'm really nervous posting this chapter so please let me know what you think! Too cheesy? Too weird? Part of the reason it took me so long to update was because I agonized over whether or not to include this chapter so, again, let me know whether or not you think it has a place in the story.**


	17. Chapter 17

The storage units were by the most uncomfortably claustrophobic places to live – and certainly the most awful by far. In fact, being inside them was so bad that most of the group actually fought to go on runs because it meant getting out of those godforsaken holes. Kit and Daryl had just come back from the run that they had earned, though they were mostly empty-handed except for a few small birds – courtesy of Daryl – and a bunch of books. (Not the books that the minivan still held.)

The group looked grateful for the food, which they were running low on, but didn't appear to understand the purpose of the books. "You were supposed to be out getting food and winter Jackets," Lori griped. "Not bringing back road kill and books."

This caused both Kit and Daryl to look pissed and while he began preparing the birds to eat, Kit sent a glare towards Lori. "We couldn't _find _any winter coats," she hissed spitefully. "So we're going to have to make due with these, for now."

"How the hell do books replace winter jackets?"

"They don't, but the paper can help. If you rip it out, crumple it up, and stuff it under your coat, it traps heat. I'm not saying that it's ideal, but it's something." Tensions were high and everyone was in a bad mood, so Kit knew it wasn't completely Lori's fault – not to mention the pregnant woman was more uncomfortable than everyone else – but that knowledge did little to improve Kit's tolerance for her. "So, anyone who's been whining about the cold is free to take advantage of the paper. Otherwise, shut the hell up."

Herschel was one of the few who had managed not to be constantly irritated, despite the taxing environment. "Not all of us are as well-equipped for the cold as you," he reminded Kit. "However, I'm going to take advantage of that paper, if you don't mind. I'll take what I can get."

"I'll help you," she replied, softer with him than with Lori. "I'm sorry for snapping," she told him quietly while she helped him stuff his jacket.

"We're all weary of these storage units," he said good-naturedly. "We just have to endure them until we move on."

"A few lessons on how to handle cold wouldn't go amiss before then. Most of you don't know a thing about survival in the cold. My dad taught me tips and tricks when I was younger, some of which were practically drilled into me. You should all know some basics, in case I'm not around to help."

The older man nodded, understanding the necessity. "Tonight, at dinner, I'll clear the floor for you."

* * *

While they nibbled on the tough bird meat, which in all fairness T-Dog had done the best he could with, Herschel cleared his throat. "It has come to my attention today that I am quite inept when it comes to the cold and were there some sort of emergency, I may not know what to do. I think we can all agree that Kit has some expertise in this area, so perhaps we could listen for a moment; it could very well save our lives later on."

Once they were listening, Kit began. "It's just a few basic things, like how to deal with hypothermia. We don't always experience below-freezing weather, but should we encounter it and hypothermia becomes a very real possibility, you need to know what to do. If a hypothermic person is warmed up too quickly, it could kill them," she warned. "Warm them up slowly and what I would recommend is skin-to-skin contact, if possible. The human body is a perfect way to warm someone else up gradually. I hope no one here is opposed to cuddling. If someone gets soaked for one reason or another, then they need to remove the wet clothes immediately. You're better off having your bare skin exposed to the cold than standing in wet clothes which suck the heat out of you. There are other basic ways to conserve heat, such as warming up the water you drink a little bit but apart from that I think most of it is common sense."

"Like running around?" Carl asked.

Kit bit her lip a little apprehensively. "Well, I guess, but keep in mind that sweat will do the same thing in the cold that it does in the heat. If it's cold enough out, the sweat could even freeze. (Though I doubt Georgia gets cold enough for that more than once in a blue moon.) Besides, conserving energy is important, too. Save running as a last resort, but movement isn't a bad idea."

It appeared as if what Kit had told them was new information for the majority of the group, so she hoped she had done some good. Rick in particular seemed to appreciate the 'presentation'. "Thanks," he told her. "It might become important because we leave the storage units day after tomorrow. We've more or less cleaned out all sources of food nearby so I see no reason to stay any longer. And I'm sure I ain't the only one who's miserable here. Tomorrow we pack up, make sure we have fuel, stuff like that and then we're gone the next day."

The aura of despair that had been sucking the life out of the group since they had entered those goddamn storage units began to lift at the prospect of finally leaving. Rick waved Kit, Daryl and Herschel over to him to discuss where to go next. "We need to find somewhere that hasn't already been picked over by other groups," he told them gravely. "Havin' some good food for a couple days is a necessity. Besides, you've all seen Lori."

It was no secret that she was becoming pretty pregnant now, her due date no more than a few months away, so the gravity of the situation was clear. "I've gotta plan," Daryl suggested. "Kit an' I had quite a bit of luck when we was takin' back roads, raidin' the smaller towns 'long the way. I say we head north again."

Kit began playing with her ring as she considered the plan. "Can we be sure we'll find something, though?"

"I gotta couple places in mind."

"Unless anyone else has any ideas, I think we better go with Daryl's plan. Now, let's map out a way to avoid the herds while we make our way there." Rick pulled out the map they had been using which was now marked up to track the movements of the various herds.

"If we stay off the highways and stick to the smaller roads then we should be fine," Herschel mused.

When the day finally came to leave, everyone was in high spirits, even Lori. The trip north was not a long one but before they reached any towns, Kit saw something that they needed to investigate. She nudged Daryl, a signal to stop. While all the vehicles pulled over, everyone was either fuming or concerned. "Why'd we pull over?" Rick asked.

"There's a lookout tower," Kit informed them with a triumphant smile. "Assuming no one else has been there, we could be in for a treat: enough food to last us for a few days, weapons and ammo, matches, all sorts of stuff could be there."

Once the group saw the tower she was pointing at, all concern or anger turned to delight, especially at the mention of food. Half of the group stayed in the car while T-Dog, Glenn, Kit, Daryl and Rick walked about a mile through the woods towards the tower until they came across an obstacle.

The river was wide enough and deep enough that if they wanted to get to the lookout tower, someone would have to swim – no bridges in sight. Everyone else in the small party looked as if they were trying to decide whether or not it was worth it when Kit said, "I'll do it."

"You're willing to swim across?" Rick asked, to which she nodded in return.

"Hell no!" Daryl was not happy. "Why the hell should she be the one ta do it?"

"Because none of you have swam in water this cold before," she answered simply. "My guess is that the water is about forty-five degrees – maybe a little less – which is a nasty shock unless you know what to expect. Besides, we all know that I'm the one who can deal with the cold the best, no competition. I'm the obvious choice."

"Yeah, but by yerself? Ain't no reason no one can't go with you."

She coughed uncomfortably. "You realize the trip has to be made naked, right? Clothes will only weigh me down in the water and if I come out on the other side in wet clothes it could be a death sentence. It's like I was saying a few days ago." The men all turned very red at the mention of Kit crossing the river naked; the group had become close, but not that close. "This is why I need Daryl to be my backup from the other side. If you see something, shoot it," she told him.

The others graciously turned their backs while Kit started removing her clothes, Daryl becoming agitated even further. "What happened ta us not doin' all the dirty work no more?"

"No one else is well-equipped to do the job," she told him patiently, understanding why he was upset. "Besides, I'll have you to watch my back the entire time." She kissed him before removing her ring. "Take care of this for me?"

"'Course." She could see that he only accepted the situation grudgingly, but was grateful he wasn't putting up more of a fight.

Then, the belt with her knife still draped across one shoulder and with her backpack on, Kit jumped into the river. The initial shock wasn't something anyone could get used to, even if they were accustomed to cold water. The cold made it hard to concentrate and move but the most problematic part was always the effect it had on the lungs. She had difficulty breathing, even with her head well above water, thanks to the frigid river. Even once she had crossed, out of the water, she couldn't decide whether the water was colder or warmer than being out in the wintry air.

Seeing no walkers, she quickly made her way up the tower, wanting to be finished with the job sooner rather than later. Kit put all useful-looking small items in her pack, then began lowering the heavier items out of the tower, such as the supply boxes. Without the luxury of time to take real inventory, she did notice one thing that would make her life a hell of a lot easier: an inflatable raft. Small miracles.

Once everything was lowered from the tower, she was packing the raft as quickly as was humanly possible when she heard one of Daryl's arrows whiz by and hit its target perfectly between the eyes. Unfortunately, she could waste no time retrieving the arrow because the shivers wracking her body were getting to the point that they hindered her ability to move effectively. The trip back was slower than the first one, pulling the fully-loaded raft behind her, but the discomfort had been well worth it.

The very second she and the raft had made it to the other side, Daryl was immediately fussing. "I'm f-f-fine," she chattered. She grabbed the t-shirt she had been wearing earlier – her bottom layer – and used it as a towel since there were so few options available. As soon as she considered herself dry enough to put her clothes back on, she did and it felt absolutely amazing to be dry and reasonably warm again.

Daryl shoved his poncho onto her when he noticed she was still shivering while she tucked her wet hair into her beanie so she couldn't lose heat that way. He pulled her in, trying his best to warm her up as Rick, T-Dog and Glenn took inventory of what she had brought over.

Rick turned to her when he saw that there was enough food to feed the group for days and said "Thank you." He looked as if he was practically in tears, probably considering the fact that his wife and son had been guaranteed decent meals for the next few days. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

She nodded. Though she was still shivering, she would recover from her little polar plunge given a few moments. As she did this, she slipped her wedding ring on with trembling hands which were one of the many subjects of Daryl's concern. He rubbed them between his own, fretting about Kit. "You d-d-d-don't have t-to worry, Griz," she shuddered.

"Like hell," he growled. "You sure as fuck ain't ridin' the motorcycle fer the rest of the day. Ya'd freeze ta death."

She shook her head at his concern, content that she had been able to help the group.

"Let's carry this stuff back to the cars," Rick said, slipping Kit's pack onto his shoulders in what she supposed was an expression of gratitude.

Everyone's faces lit up when they saw what the party was bringing back, Lori in particular. Rick began listing off what they had found when Carol noticed Kit and Daryl. "She's white as a sheet," she whispered to the pair.

"She had ta swim across a river ta get the supplies," Daryl grumbled. "I still ain't happy 'bout it."

"It was worth it," Kit insisted. "Weapons, first-aid kit, food, matches, kerosene lamps and more. We needed the supplies."

Daryl continued muttering a little bit about how she could have died before he turned to Carol. "Do ya mind ridin' with me so Kit can sit in a warm car? Jus' fer today?"

"I don't mind at all. Just as long as Kit doesn't get jealous," she teased.

She smiled at Carol's joke. "You kids have fun. I hope T-Dog is driving because my experiences with a Grimes behind the wheel haven't been spectacular."

* * *

As the group traveled deeper and deeper into the woods, they came across a small building: a ranger station. When they entered, they found more supplies similar to those that they had found in the watchtower and a great place to stay the night, to boot. It had its own generator, showers and even three beds, though they were single-person.

During the best dinner that any of them had had in ages, there was actual laughter, a rarity anymore. While the others were enjoying themselves, Lori scooted herself closer to Kit. "Thank you for what you did today."

"I did what was necessary," Kit replied, not sure how to react to Lori's sudden bout of pleasantness.

"You still volunteered for it. And besides, we don't know if the others would have made it across."

"The water wasn't freezing," Kit scoffed. "It was more than ten degrees above actual freezing temperature. I think you underestimate just how tough we've all become since the farm."

"I still appreciate it. We may not get along but we can't exactly avoid each other anymore and I understand that you and Daryl contribute to the group. For that, I respect both of you."

The hostile tension that had existed between the two women for the past several months began to melt away. "Nobody in this group can afford to dislike each other. We're a family now and though communism doesn't tend to work on a big scale it does work in a group like this. So, we all work for the better of the group." Kit realized she was rambling a little bit, but her response was due to her surprise. "I _am _sorry about Shane."

Lori nodded. "I'm beginning to understand and Carl is, too. It was just hard for us, so I'm sorry too. Truce?"

"Truce." The irony of their truce didn't escape Kit. The fact that she had made a truce with Shane only days before he had died made a knot in her stomach over her conversation with Lori. Still, she appreciated the effort that the other woman had put into taping up their shattered relationship.

It was decided that Lori, Carl and Herschel would be getting the beds that night, which was perfectly fine with Kit and Daryl, because they still had one very nice sleeping pad left from her minivan and it was big enough for them to share. "I can't remember the last time I felt this clean," she sighed blissfully while she collapsed into the sleeping pad next to Daryl, beginning to her fingers through his hair. "It's looking a little shaggy," she remarked.

He shrugged. "If it gets in ma eyes, then I'll jus' cut it. Yers is gettin' long, too. I like it, though."

"Seduced by my blonde locks, Mr. Dixon? I used to have it grown down to my ass before I cut it all off a few months before the outbreak. It was even longer than Lori's."

"I wouldn't recommend lettin' it get that long again," he mused. "A walker might grab it."

"If it becomes a problem then I'll cut it but I think you gravely underestimate the power of a hair-tie."

This was the first night that anyone in the group had been able to engage in light conversation in quite a while and it felt nice, but Kit knew that their pleasant situation here at the Ranger station would only last for so long before they would have to leave. It wasn't exactly a defensible position. Soon Rick would have them on the road again, looking for his elusive – practically mythical – haven where they would be safe from walkers. She would believe it when she saw it.


End file.
